


Baby, I'm Your Ride Or Die

by AsagiStilinski



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: (barely), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Alternate Universe - Yakuza, Anxious Katsuki Yuuri, Assassination Attempt(s), Awkward Sexual Situations, Babysitting, Barebacking, Biting, Bottom Victor Nikiforov, Character's Name Spelled as Viktor, Character's Name Spelled as Yuri, Christophe Giacometti & Victor Nikiforov Friendship, Christophe Giacometti Being Christophe Giacometti, Collars, Confident Katsuki Yuuri, Crossdressing, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dancing and Singing, Devotion, Dom Katsuki Yuuri, Dom/sub, Drama, Established Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, Flirting, Fluff, Getting Together, Gun Violence, Guns, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, Healing, Implied/Referenced Torture, Injury, Katsuki Yuuri speaks Japanese, Kidnapping, Languages, Light BDSM, Literal Sleeping Together, M/M, Mafia Katsuki Yuuri, Mafia Victor Nikiforov, Magic, Magical Realism, Mild Kink, Mild Smut, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Minor Violence, Non-Graphic Violence, Oblivious Katsuki Yuuri, Phichit Chulanont & Katsuki Yuuri Are Best Friends, Phichit Chulanont Is a Good Friend, Phichit Chulanont is the Best, Possessive Behavior, Protective Katsuki Yuuri, Protective Phichit Chulanont, Protective Victor Nikiforov, Russian Mafia, Secret Santa, Singing, Sleeping Together, Slow Burn, Stepping kink, Sub Victor Nikiforov, Supportive Phichit Chulanont, Top Katsuki Yuuri, Trust, Victor Nikiforov Has No Chill, Victor Nikiforov Is In Love, Victor Nikiforov Speaks Russian, Victor Nikiforov is a polyglot, Victor Nikiforov's Foot Fetish, Witch Hunters, Witch Katsuki Yuuri, Witchcraft, Witches, Yakuza, Yakuza Katsuki Yuuri, Yuri Plisetsky Being an Asshole, Yuri Plisetsky Swears
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 11:35:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 52,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21968665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Initially, Viktor just wanted to gain an alliance with the local yakuza to help keep his bratva in power against the Italian mafia, but after meeting their leader, Yuri Katsuki, Viktor's priorities begin to shift a little, and he's no longer nearly as interested in an alliance as he is in a marriageYuri feels just as affectionate towards Viktor... but there's one little problem: Yuri is a witch who's coven has recently been under attack by witch hunters, and his alliance with Viktor could end up helping the coven... or destroying it...Or: A rom-com with mobsters, witches, and a little bit of kink
Relationships: Katsuki Yuuri/Victor Nikiforov, Mila Babicheva/Sara Crispino, Otabek Altin/Yuri Plisetsky, Phichit Chulanont/Christophe Giacometti
Comments: 6
Kudos: 130
Collections: Yuri!!! on Ice Secret Skater 2019





	1. I Think I Loved You The Moment I Laid Eyes On You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RTengu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RTengu/gifts).



> My peice for the Secret Skater gift exchange, for R-Tengu! I really hope you like it! As soon as I saw that you liked fantasy, mafia AUs, and dom!Yuri, I knew exactly what I was doing... I just may have gone a bit overboard xD
> 
> Lyrics are from Melanie Martinez's "'Class Fight"

_Mommy why do I feel sad?  
Should I give him away, or feel this bad?_

Punch

Step

Punch, punch

Step

Kick

_"No no no, don't you choke,"  
Daddy chimed in "Go for the throat"_

Panting softly, Viktor pummeled his fists forward again, pounding roughly into the punching bag in front of him, bouncing on his feet just like his father had taught him

_For the throat, for, for the throat  
Daddy chimed in "Go for the throat"_

He brought his leg up, kicking the bag as hard as he could and spinning on his other foot, shaking his bangs out of his vision before charging forward to punch it again

His father had been wrong about one thing- Viktor's ballet classes _had_ come in handy

_Her face was fucked up and my hands were bloody_

"Give it up Viktor, you know you'll never win,"

That had been practice though, and this was the real world, and there were no do-overs here

The man in front of him was sporting a black eye and a bloody nose among other things, but Viktor was definitely the more ragged of the two

Hand-to-hand combat had never been his strongest suit

_We were in the playground, things were getting muddy_

Honestly, Viktor could kill the guy just for attacking him at a public playground like this, where children could possibly see them

Well, if it weren't for being so late at night anyway

Popping his neck, Viktor inhaled, ignore the sting in his nose and the burn in his throat as he began the familiar boxing style dance of jumping around on his feet, one hand extending a little to beckon his opponent closer

"Well then, shall we test your theory?" he asked, his voice low and breathless

"Let's see if I can win or not, hm?"

_The teacher broke us up after I broke her_

Viktor was swept off his feet before he knew it- and not in the good way

His head hit the concrete hard and Viktor had to bite down hard on his lip to restrain a scream of agony as the other man kicked him in the stomach as hard as possible

The pain was white hot and blinding, it had Viktor almost choking, but if anything, that just drove him further

With as much energy as he could muster, Viktor reached up and yanked on the other man's belt hard, just enough to throw him off balance before hurriedly kicking outwards to nock _him_ off of his feet as well

Before his opponent could recover, Viktor flipped himself on top of the other and hurriedly drew his blade out of his belt, quickly punching the other in the face with his free hand, distracting him just long enough to plunge the blade down into the center of the stranger's throat

Viktor paused for a few moments, heaving breaths, loud and ragged as he watched the blood pool up around the dagger, before finally allowing himself to flop backwards and rest, if only for a moment

_And my one true love called me a monster_

~+~

"What the fuck happened to _you_?"

Exhaling slowly, Viktor leaned back in his chair, a tired look on his face

"Good to see you too Yura, please sit,"

Yuri, who looked pensive at best and scruitinizing at worst, probably wasn't done with questioning his boss just yet, but for now anyway, he sank into his chair, the man behind him silently doing the same, not that Viktor was surprised

Otabek followed Yuri around like a ghost, or a lost puppy, depending on your perception

Viktor couldn't remember the last time he had seen his younger cousin without his own personal bodyguard- who was, actually, not _really_ a bodyguard, but may as well have been

Following close behind them was Mila, a red-head and possibly the only non-relative who Viktor considered to be worth the privlege of allowing in on personal matters

"Thank you all for coming, I've called you here to-"

"Wait, is this it?" Mila asked in surprise, her face clearly reflecting just how strange she found that information to be

"Just the three of us?"

"Yes, just the three of you," Viktor confirmed with an easy nod

To say that Mila looked surprised was putting it mildly

"I wanted to keep this matter very close to the vest until we can have a proper decision on our next course of action, I don't want to get anyone's hackles unnecessarily raised, so to speak,"

"Oh for fuck's sake Viktor, what are you going to do to us _now_?" Yuri grumbled as he leaned back in his chair, clearly not very pleased with things, despite the fact that he didn't even know what Viktor had in mind

"Why do you just assume it's going to be something bad?" Viktor pouted

"Because I know you," Yuri replied flatly, pulling a frown to Viktor's face

Viktor just huffed, trying to ignore that

"JJ's gang is getting worse," he finally said

"I just found out that he's added a dozen new members and has taken another district from the Mexicans,"

"Shit," Yuri hissed quietly, clearly surprised by that- _good_ , as it should be

"Exactly," Viktor huffed, dragging his leather-gloved fingers through his hair and staring down at his desk

"JJ has exactly what we don't- numbers, and he's coming for us, our's is currently the smallest mafia in the district, we're going to get demolished if he tries to take us head on right now,"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration," Otabek warned slowly

"Yes, we lack numbers, but what we lack there we make up for in cash, connections, and experience-"

"Yes but those things won't help us in a head-to-head battle, they'll help us pull things under the table but if he burst through that door right now with his full gang and a loaded gun, we'd be dead meat, maybe a few of us could get out of it alive thanks to being more experienced and better fighters, but there's no way we can win against him, we _have_ to have better numbers,"

"Ok, so what do you want us to do? Call Yakov and have-"

"No," Viktor interrupted quickly, cutting Mila off mid-sentence

"We aren't calling Yakov, as long as we're in the United States, _I'm_ the pakhan, besides, sending out six or seven guys really isn't going to help, there's... more,"

"More?" Yuri asked slowly

"There's a rumor going around that JJ is looking to make an allegiance with the Italians, now normally I wouldn't put any stock in rumors, but you know as well as I do that he and Crispino have had a very long-standing freindship for a long time and with JJ clearly trying to grow his territory, I wouldn't be surprised if they worked out some kind of deal,"

"Dammit," Yui grumbled irritably

"Dammit... fuck fuck fuck! JJ's stupid fucking gang we could take but even I'm not arrogant enough to say we could stand against the fucking Italians, they're fucking huge!"

"Thank you for pointing that out Yura," Viktor said flatly

" _Anyway_ , I've been thinking about a solution to our rapidly growing problem, and I think we should put together an allegiance of our own, I was going to wait a little longer and approach this slowly but we don't have time, we want an ally on our side _before_ any alleigance between JJ and the Italians could get made, we want to try to _stop_ that allegiance in any way we can, or at the absolute least we don't want to have a weak spot open when they form or else they'll make an example out of us and skewer us, so... we need an ally, and we need one fast,"

"You should go with the Irish," Otabek suggested

"Notorious enemies of the Italians, I'm sure if you drop Crispino's name they won't even ask for anything in return for their help, they're also hard up for cash, wich we're in no short supply of, and I've heard of that their current boss is a hell of alot more accepting of the gay stuff than most mafias,"

"No, they're too wild and only hold on deals for as long as they need them, I wouldn't trust them for more than a second and I'm looking for a long-term relationship,"

"We know, that's why you won't get on Tindr," Mila noted, snickering at the deadpan look on Viktor's face

"....And thank you for _that_ ," he grumbled

"What about the Greeks?" Otabek proposed

"No, they're already in JJ's pocket, the Polish too, even though that one is unofficial, I would say they'd do just about anything to get back at us, they know that piss-ant is our mortal enemy so I have a feeling they'd jump on any chance to work with him," Yuri grumbled with a huff

"Guys, guys, I've already made my decision," Viktor finally said, not interested in hearing the other three go back and forth with the different mobs running New York- God knew they'd be there all day if they did that...

"You have?" Mila asked in surprise

"Yep, I did alot of research before coming to this conclusion and I'm confident that the one I chose best aligns with our interests,"

"Well go on then, out with it, don't keep us here until spring," Yuri insisted

And Viktor felt oddly kind of... thrilled to make this announcement, he'd been stressing over it for so long that now finally getting it out felt cathartic and releiving

"I've decided to ask for allegiance with the yakuza,"

"Ehh?!? The Japanese!? Why the fuck would you want to partner with _them_?"

Clearly Yuri wasn't impressed

"Like I said, they best align with our interests, not only do they have good numbers but the yakuza value trust and loyalty exponentially, they consider themselves family-"

"So does every other mob!"

"-and are community driven, unlike so many others, they aren't driven by money or taking out shit on the little guy, they take on big organizations and are motivated to protect and take care of their local community, that's good for us, it makes them more trust-worthy and more-"

"Aligned with our interests?" Mila guessed with a small smirk

"We know Vitya, you want to do this Robin Hood thing- eat the rich and strengthen the community,"

"Yes, because once the community is strong they'll help keep us in power, they'll keep the cops off of us and they'll turn to us for protection instead of some of the other groups, once we establish ourselves as a _good_ force for the community and earn their loyalty, we'll be able to cement ourselves here more firmly and can freeze out some of the others like the Italians and the Polish and weaken them- then we can _destroy_ them,"

"Oh pull your head out of your ass Viktor, New York has always been a criminal melting pot and the Italians in particular have ruled this place since fucking Pangea,"

"I'm impressed you know what Pangea was Yura!" Viktor beamed, much to Yuri's snarling annoyance

"And I'm not trying to totally kick them from New York, that would be crazy, I just want them to step off of our territory and stop trying to take us out, that's all, I think that's pretty reasonable, though... JJ's group of morons... _them_ I could stand to flush out entirely,"

"It'd be doable if we had the right numbers and support and we isolated JJ from his allies," Mila agreed with a thoughtfull nod

"I'm still not sure about this, they've got alliances with the Chinese and the Koreans in California, but here in New York they haven't got any real alliances,"

"True, but Aleksander used to work with them when he was in charge here, I heard a rumor that the Irish and the Italians do too, but I'm not sure of the details," Viktor noted

"Japan doesn't even allow gay marriage though Viktor, they're not exactly the most open minded," Otabek warned

"Beka, I'm _Russian_ ," Viktor reminded him with a low chuckle

"I'm the first gay pakhan, even if I'm only a substitute taking charge of the American branch, I'm probably going to get killed by my own people, hell, maybe we all will, but the home country's opinions on homosexuality doesn't necessarily dictate each individual mob's opinion, IE: our's, on the other hand though, the Italians just off'd two of their members for being gay and one of the American street gangs just took out a _leader_ for being gay, gay marriage is legal both here and in Italy, and _yet_.... on the other hand, there are also gangs here that are _entirely_ comprised of queer people, and just cultural beleifs don't always flow into mob culture, again, look at our own bratva, I'd probably have been strung up in Russia but Uncle Nikolai is an outstanding man who doesn't follow our home country's backwards opinions and he made me the leader of our American branch, I'm quite sure that if I belonged to the Ivanov family and not the Plisetskys I'd have been butchered as soon as I got caught wearing a pink shirt,"

He leaned back in his chair, truly feeling sympathetic to the concerned look on his freind's face, but being unwilling to change his mind

"My point is, it really doesn't matter who I align with, if they want to kill me for being gay, they're going to, I'm not jeopardizing the rest of my family just because I may have a slightly better chance of getting approval from one place over another,"

Otabek exhaled, his shoulders sagging a little

" _Je tiens à toi, Viktor, et j'ai peur que tu commettes une erreur fatale_ ,"

Viktor's expression eased, reaching out to gently take Otabek's hand

" _Je comprends, merci pour l'inquiétude Beka, mais je vous promets, je suis plus intelligent que je ne le suis, et je sais ce que je fais, j'ai un peu confiance en moi, d'accord?_ "

Otabek nodded slowly, giving Viktor's hand a small squeeze before pulling away

" _Oui, d'accord Viktor,_ "

"God I hate it when you do that fucking shit," Yuri grumbled in annoyance

With Viktor and Otabek being the only two in the immediate family to speak more than just Russian and English, they often used other languages to communicate privately, wich, ofcourse, irritated the hell out of Yuri

Viktor just laughed though, grinning from ear to ear

"Sorry Yura!! You want to stop being left out? Learn more languages," he teased, much to Yuri's ire

"Oh fuck off Viktor..."

Viktor only shrugged, crossing one leg over the other as he leaned further against the desk

"So! Are we in agreement then?"

~+~

It wasn't exactly hard to arrange a meeting with the oyabun of the New York branch of the yakuza

After a little digging he quickly found the name of the oyabun and found out that his family owned a rather large but very cozy inn in southern Canandaigua, right on the lake

_Five hours from the city_

It goes to show exactly how much Viktor wanted this alliance to work out that he would drive five hours from New York City to Canandaigua Lake, and perhaps even more so that he drove up to that most beautifull inn he had ever seen...... in the middle of nowhere, knowing that yakuza waited on the other side of the door and with no back up of his own, he hadn't even told anyone when he was having this meeting

Foolish? Maybe, but Viktor liked to think of it as a good display of trust

The death of him? Maybe, but Viktor had never been much for self-preservation

In his life, he had always been drawn to danger the way moths were drew to a flame, it wasn't intentional, it was just nature taking it's course

He was a gay Russian mobster living in the biggest gang hub in the world trying to take territory from other people after the previous pakhan of the area had nearly lost their entire hold on the city

Every choice he made seemed to be rooted in the idea that Viktor's life would end quickly and early and he had made peace with that ages ago

So he pulled up to the rustic inn, marveling at the gorgeous wood and stone detailing, and plastered his signature sweet smile on his face as he got out of his pink Cadillac- because he would never let anyone make the mistake of thinking him straight- to go meet with the yakuza

Atleast he wasn't stupid enough to go unarmed, he thought to himself, as he stepped into the warmly lit lobby of the inn and met eyes with a bored looking receptionist at the front desk

"Welcome to Yutopia, how many nights?"

Yep, she was bored

"Hello there, I'm Viktor Nikiforov, I have a meeting with Mr. Katsuki?"

Now _that_ seemed to jerk her attention away frm the magazine she was reading

Breifly, she stared at Viktor the way a deer might stare into the oncoming headlights of life, but she schooled her features soon enough

"....Right," she said slowly, clearing her throat and picking up a walkie talkie on the desk, mumbling something to it in Japanese that Viktor couldn't understand

"Someone will be with you in just a moment, please make yourself comfortable in the mean time,"

Smile still in place, Viktor gave her a little salute and moved to sit in one of the ultra comfortable chairs in the lobby and started to look around

The inn was certainly gorgeous and well kept, with the "mountain cabin" type of vibe to it, but something else that Viktor couldn't quite pinpoint, something very.... foreign.... that he had no experience with

He wondered distantly if it was something Japanese

"Mr. Nikiforov?"

Glancing up, Viktor smiled and stood up upon hearing his name, holding his hand out politely to the dark-skinned brunette standing in front of him

"I'm Phichit, it's a pleasure to meet you," he said immediately, giving Viktor's hand a firm but genuinely freindly shake

"I'll be taking you to your meeting, and if you need anything, just let me know!"

Wow, Viktor had never met anyone in a mob who was this freindly before, was that a yakuza thing or was it just this one guy?

Or was it Mr. Katsuki's group specifically?

"Ah, thank you," he said, a little taken off guard as Phichit let go and turned on his heel, waving for Viktor to follow him

He seemed pretty professional otherwise, dressed in a nice suit and with something bulky at his side

Viktor couldn't see it, with Phichit's jacket in the way it was well concealed, but Viktor was pretty willing to bet that it was a gun

"Actually um... I do have a question," he noted a little awkwardly as Phichit lead him through a door behind the reception desk- one of two- and into a long hallway, one that Viktor guessed was off limits to actual guests

"Go ahead! Ask away," Phichit smiled helpfully

"How... should I address Mr. Katsuki? I mean, there's a particular way in Japanese isn't there?"

"Oh you mean honorifics? Katsuki-San,"

Phichit looked like he was about to say more, but suddenly went quiet, flashing Viktor a bright, beaming smile instead

...

Yeah, because that wasn't _at all_ intimidating

Though, it occured to Viktor that perhaps that was the _point_

Phichit stopped suddenly in front of one of the doors and reached out, opening it for Viktor- .. he thought... before Phichit himself stepped in

" _Yuri!! Kore wa Roshia no gyangu, Viktor Nikiforov ka? Anata wa sore o kesshite shinjinaideshou, kare wa totemo kawaikute yakkaidesu! ! Kono kaigi ga umaku iku koto o kanzen ni kakunin suru hitsuyo ga arimasu!_ "

_"P-Phichit..."_

Viktor was still trying to actually enter the room, but Phichit seemed unwilling to move

" _Tonikaku, anata ga watashi o hitsuyo to surunara, watashi wa horu ni irudeshou, tada sakebu ka, watashi ni shingo matawa nanika o okutte, sutekina mitingu o shite kudasai!_ "

With that, Phichit finally turned to leave, giving Viktor the chance to step inside fully before shutting the door behind him, and when Viktor finally managed to get a full look at Yuri Katsuki, the oyabun of the New York yakuza....

He stopped breathing for a second there

Yuri Katsuki was the most gorgeous human being that Viktor had ever seen and he felt like his legs were going to buckle

His entire body quaked, his eyes wide and his breath quickening as he stared at the gorgeous man

He was unbelievably beautifull, with jet black hair slicked back to reveal more of his face, pale skin and gorgeous brown eyes, soft but with a definite edge to them, accented by a pair of blue framed glasses, his lips looked soft and were curved into a slim smile, he wore an expensive suit and leather gloves and Viktor felt like he was suffocating

"Konichiwa, Nikiforov-San,"

Oh... _oh_.... Viktor was going to die here and the oyabun wouldn't even need to pull a gun on him

"K-Konichiwa, Katsuki-San,"

Yuri seemed impressed by that, the corner of his mouth ticking up to make his inviting smile into something more of a smirk

"Zdrastvuite, Mr. Nikiforov,"

Mouth falling open a little, Viktor no longer hesitated and made his way to the desk, sitting down carefully in front of it

"You speak Russian?" he breathed excitedly

"Not yet I'm afraid, I only know a couple of greetings, but someday perhaps,"

Ah, Viktor found that a little disappointing, having really thought that he'd found another rare Russian speaker but alas...

"So what brought you to my inn today, Mr. Nikiforov?"

"You did,"

Yuri's eyebrows raised, and Viktor's face went pink

Oh lovely, seven words into this meeting and Viktor had already screwed up

"I mean-... I have a proposition for you, Katsuki-San,"

Yuri's face was truly one of soft-hearted and mild-tempered amusement, he clearly thought Viktor was amusing but not in a condescending way, more like he was... _charmed_ by Viktor somehow

"You can call me Mr. Katsuki, I'm used to that, really,"

"Is it what you prefer?" Viktor asked a bit hesitantly

"I _prefer_ 'Yuri', actually,"

Viktor's heart skipped a beat, he smiled warmly, and resisted the urge to reach for Yuri's hand

"Ok then, _Yuri_ , I'd... like to propose an alliance,"

Better, he figured, to just rip the band-aid off as hard and fast as he could, not dawdle around trying to be overly pleasant

Yuri looked a little surprised, but that expression softened rather quickly

"An alliance?"

"Yes, tell me, how familiar are you with New York City?"

"Well considering I live there, I'd say 'very',"

...

Wait...... _what_?

"You- ... what do you mean you live there? It's five hours away from here! Don't tell me you commute back and forth every day,"

"W-Well not _every_ day..." Yuri muttered back, for the first time showing a bit of awkwardness as his own face went red and he adjusted his glasses

"Still!! _How_?!"

"Mr. Nikiforov-"

"Viktor, please, Yuri,"

Yuri paused, inhaling, exhaling, and starting over

" _Viktor_ , you... want an alliance?" he reminded Viktor carefully, wich was apparently enough to get Viktor back on the conversational track, although he still seemed a little hesitant to do so

"R-Right... well then, are you familiar with Jean Jacques Leroy?"

"Oh yes, unfortunately so," Yuri replied with a quiet but irritated sigh

Ah, clearly Yuri had had some _personal_ dealings with JJ too then

"Well, as you know, he's really starting to gather up traction, I admit, I'm surprised all things considered, but he's starting to gain not only territory, but followers too, his group is only growing and they're starting to encroach on _my_ territory, and I'll tell you a secret... there's a rumor going around that he's going to be making his _own_ alliance with the Italians, now usually I don't put any stock in rumors but it's no secret that he and Michele Crispino have been buddies from the start so this has grounds, and if he jumps into bed with Crispino-"

"It's bad news for everyone else,"

Oh, good, Yuri shared Viktor's veiwpoint, that would make the rest of this alot easier

"Exactly, JJ doesn't need to gain any more ground than he already has,"

"And neither does Crispino, his family has already made it clear that they're the biggest organization in the U.S., if they get too much stronger they're going to seriously disrupt the criminal ecosystem,"

Viktor's lips twitched up, hiding a laugh

Had the yakuza seriously just used the term "criminal ecosystem"...?

"Exactly what I was thinking,"

A lie, but a nicely veiled one

"I was thinking... if the bad guys are teaming up, so should the good guys right? Like a Marvel movie, and you're the _best_ of the good guys,"

"Am I?" Yuri asked, his voice teasing and his eyebrows raised

"I have to admit, I've never heard anyone call _any_ of us 'good guys', what's your reasoning?"

"Well... our interests align, and we really aren't terrible people, you and I, the yakuza are fucking awesome! Instead of going after the little guy and abusing your power, you have this Robin Hood thing going on, fucking over the rich and helping your communities! I know that's not exactly what the Russian mob is famous for-"

To put it mildly

"-but I... honestly I want to model my family after your format, I've intended since I came here to change the way the Russians operate, atleast here in New York, I'd.... be not only arrogant but _delusional_ to believe that I could change the entirety of the Russian mafia on my own but if I atleast change the way the American branches operate maybe I can kickstart something you know? A-Anyway my point is, you and I have similar goals and I think we would work well together, neither of us want JJ to gain any more power and neither of us want Crispino to gain any more ground, so why not work together? I bet you that the two of us together could really do some damage to them,"

Yuri leaned back in his chair, considering, as he crossed one leg elegantly over the other

"You make alot of good arguments,"

"Thank you!" Viktor beamed, relieved by the fact that Yuri was atleast considering his points, though... he knew better than to jump the gun here, he was still holding his breath, so to speak, waiting on any type of confirming sentiment

"And you're right, we _do_ have similar interests, I've been watching you Viktor, I've been watching your family, you're not lying about your attempts to go Robin Hood yourself,"

"Ha, you know in any other context you saying that you've been watching me sounds a little creepy," Viktor said with a laugh

Actually it _still_ sounded creepy if he was being completely honest, but he wasn't going to say that when he was trying to do a deal with the guy

"Sorry, I just... well, in terms of New York mobs, JJ is the baby of the group, but before him it was you and before you it was me, so since I've been here I've tried to keep a close eye on anyone who comes in after myself, I try to keep a tab on _everyone_ working this state but as I'm sure you can imagine that's not always possible, keeping a watch on the ones who have come in since I got here though, is considerably easier,"

"Ah.. wow, you really are very efficient, so then how am I doing thus far, _Katsuki-San_? Do you like what you see?"

Was Viktor flirting with the cute oyabun? Possibly

Could that get him killed? Probably

Did he give a shit? Not even remotely

Yuri's lips curved upwards though, his eyes darkening just a hint as he leaned closer to the desk, resting his cheek delicately against his fingers as he set his elbow on the desk

"I do, I wouldn't be agreeing to your alliance if I didn't,"

Suddenly, the fact that Yuri might just be flirting _back_ with Viktor went completely over the Russian's head, his eyes lit up, excitement flooding through him as he practically jumped at the response

"Really!? So... we're partners now!?"

"Something like that," Yuri said with a slight chuckle, clearly trying to suppress exactly how amused he was by this situation

" _Sovershenstvo_! So then we should make this known, right? I want everyone to know that you and I are together now, if they mess with you, they deal with me, and if they mess with me, they deal with you,"

"That sounds great, exactly the kind of message I want to send," Yuri agreed with a nod, much to Viktor's growing excitement

"Ah, so what now? Do I get a tattoo?"

Yuri seemed a little surprised by that, lips twitching up again

"Um, no, not unless you want one, not only is that not a mandatory tradition anymore- as having tattoos is still seen as a taboo in Japan and can badly hinder someone's professional and even personal life- but further, you'd only get tattooed if you were actually part of the yakuza, wich you aren't, you're just.. an ally,"

"Oh," Viktor said with a clear air of disappointment

"I mean, if you... _want_ to be a part of the yakuza though I.. I guess we could discuss a merger of some sort later on, g-give it a little bit and see if we still feel so strongly about this in a few months and we'll... talk... about that? I-If you want...?"

Oh, he was getting nervous again, had what Viktor suggested really been so... intense?

Admittedly, Viktor was still new to so many parts of this job that dealt with diplomacy and interacting with other bosses and gangs, until moving to America, Viktor's job had mostly been as a hitman, a living weapon, the leadership quality was still something he was adjusting to and it must be obvious to Yuri now just how inexperienced he was

He wondered breifly how experienced Yuri was in comparison, he didn't seem very old, in fact he even looked younger than Viktor, but he _acted_ as though he had spent decades handling this job

"I'd like that, I think," Viktor confessed a little shyly, face tinged pink

"I'm happy to hear that," Yuri replied sincerely, much to Viktor's releif

Clearly his indirect suggestion of merging their clans had been surprising, but, thankfully, not _insulting_

"So do I need to go through some sort of initiation then? Or is that still just something you do with other yakuza?"

"Yakuza only I'm afraid, no need to initiate an ally, but I appreciate your eagerness, and there _is_ something I'd like you to have,"

"Oh!! A gift?" Viktor asked in delighted surprise, perking up as Yuri shifted around and pulled one of the drawers to his desk open, dipping down to retreive something and holding it out to Viktor

"A... pin...?" the pakhan asked in minor confusion as he picked up a small enamel pin from Yuri's hand

It was packaged in cellophane, so clearly it was new... and it was a very pretty design, a lily blooming out of a snowflake, with gold trim against the otherwise mostly white pin

"Yes, that's my family symbol, please have it with you all the time, you don't have to wear it, but keeping it in your pocket or something... that would be good,"

"Ok.... but may I ask the significance?"

Somehow, Viktor had the feeling that this wasn't just some random gift

"We're allies now," Yuri replied simply, standing up from his chair and walking slowly around the desk until he could perch on the edge of it, one leg crossing elegantly over the other again, but not he was much closer to Viktor, and the other man's heart was racing just from the proximity

"It's like you said earlier, if someone messes with me, they deal with you, and if someone messes with you, they deal with _me_ , unless this alliance ends- and I hope that it doesn't- then my family is as good as your's, and your's is as good as mine... meaning that you, Viktor, are _also_ mine,"

There was an edge to that that Viktor couldn't identify

It stopped his breath, his heart skipped a beat, and he had the feeling that Yuri was referring to alot more than just their clans aligning

"I take very good care of my people Viktor, I'm _very_ protective of them, you're my people now, and everyone who's mine has one of those pins,"

"Are they... just to identify eachother?"

That seemed odd though, if Yuri had said he could just keep it in his pocket...

Wouldn't an identifying symbol need to be worn visibly somewhere?

"No, not really, it's a bit of a long story but... I'd feel much more secure about our alliance if you promised to keep that with you ok?"

Viktor beamed, wasting no more time in unwrapping it from the packaging and sticking it on his jacket

"I'll wear it always," he promised softly

There was a slight tinge of pink on Yuri's cheeks now, but he seemed happy all the same

"I'm very happy to hear that, thank you," he said calmly, sliding down from his desk and standing in front of Viktor

"I feel bad though, I never even thought to get you a gift," Viktor mused as he started to stand

"It's really fine-"

"No no, I'll get you something, I jus-.. ah.."

Viktor paused, wincing a little as he forced himself to his feet, the bruise on his abdamon from yesterday was still fresh and sore, it hadn't bothered him when he sat down but now that he was leaning forward to get back up, it was making it's existence much more pronounced

"You're injured?" Yuri guessed with a frown, his demeanor immediately switching away from professional to concerned

"O-Oh it's nothing-"

"That doesn't sound like nothing," Yuri insisted, moving a little closer, his eyes flicking down to Viktor's torso before glancing back up at his face, eyes narrowing a little behind his glasses, evidently deep in thought

"Yuri-"

"Why don't you let me heal you?" he proposed suddenly, much to Viktor's surprise

"H-Ha...?"

"My mother is a healer," Yuri clarified, though it... didn't acutally bring much clairity

"You mean like a doctor?"

"A healer," Yuri corrected, though that really didn't make Viktor feel much better

"I learned some things from her before I moved away, I can take care of any wound, please, let me help you,"

"It's- it's just a bruise, you... can't heal bruises..."

"Maybe _you_ can't," Yuri replied with a hint of a smirk, though it barely lingered on his face, switching back to concern and sternness a moment later

"I can heal any wound, I told you that, unless it's fatal ofcourse,"

Viktor was a little hesitant, but...

"We're allies now, right? So you should trust me," Yuri added gently

And... he was right

Viktor had been perfectly prepared to get a tattoo or make a blood sacrifice or something to make this alliance work, why not let Yuri have a go at healing him?

"Alright," Viktor agreed a second later, his face a little pink

"You.. have a point, so, please then.... heal me,"

Yuri's expression lit up, purely happy, as he moved back to the desk and grabbed his walkie talkie

" _Phichit, watashi wa Viktor o aoi heya ni tsurete ikimasu, kare wa fusho shimashita, ni-ji no gesuto no sewa o shite kuremasu ka?_ "

" _Shochishimashita! Anata wa kare ga sukida to itte sore de jubundesu ka? Akai heyade wanaku aoi heya ga hitsuyodesu ka?_ "

" _S-Sayonara Phichit!!_ "

Yuri seemed flushed...

Viktor really wished he understood Japanese so he could know what they were saying...

"A-Alright," Yuri muttered, clearing his throat, his face red, as he moved away from the desk again and pushed a smile onto his face, his expression easing a little more, though he wasn't quite as smooth and blindly confident as he had been before

"Come with me Viktor," he ordered gently, holding his hand out and immediately curling his fingers around Viktor's as the pakhan set his hand in Yuri's, letting the oyabun guide him towards a bookshelf in the corner

"So, was it JJ? The wound, I mean," Yuri asked as he tilted one of the books out of the bookshelf, and then, like a fucking _spy movie_ , the bookcase _moved_ and revealed a _secret room_

....

And Viktor had been impressed with the _outside_ of the inn.....

"H-Huh?" Viktor mumbled obliviously, turning pink as Yuri lead him inside and pressed a button on the wall to close the door behind him

"O-Oh um, no, it was.. someone else," Viktor muttered back as he squeezed Yuri's hand on instinct

He wasn't afraid of the dark or anything, but being totally blind and in an unfamiliar environment with no one but another mafia boss to guide him was a little intimidating

He liked Yuri, he wanted to trust him, but... Viktor wasn't stupid

If ever there was a great opportunity for Yuri to murder him, it would probably be now

Luckily though, almost instantly, the yakuza boss turned on some lights

Or... perhaps more accurately, lit some candles

Viktor didn't know how he did it so quickly, but within a few seconds, the entire room was filled with candle light

It was kind of a creepy room if he was being honest, with stone walls and a stone floor, it reminded him of a dungeon

There was a table in the center that reminded him of a massage table, but without the hole in the center of the headpeice, a few smaller tables and cabinets as well as a rolling stool also decorated the otherwise empty room, and.... candles

So. Many. Candles.

"Please don't be put off by all this, we're rennovating, this room is new and we haven't gotten any artificial lighting in here yet, that's _also_ why there's no carpet or sheet rock to paint over,"

Ah, Yuri must have noticed how uncomfortable Viktor looked

"A-Ah, I see... w-well it's to be expected! It's only been three years but this place is so impressive... you've been very busy," he mused, taking a hesitant step closer to the table

"So what is this place meant to be then?"

"Think of it as a nurse's office, a few of my kobun are actually professionally trained in medicine and have volunteered to be on call for me,"

"Wow, will that really work with the commute being like it is?" Viktor asked in surprise

"Not all of my kobun live in the city, in fact, one of them has decided to move to the inn for a temporary residence wile looking at local real estate," Yuri replied with a small smile, walking towards one of the cabinets and leaning up on the tips of his toes to open it

"Oh..."

Viktor found himself left a little dumbstruck by that, face pink, not entirely sure how to process it all

"Could you remove your make up for me please Viktor?" Yuri asked suddenly, grabbing a bottle of water from the cabinet, as well as a cloth and a large bowl

"Wah-... what makes you think I'm wearing make up?" Viktor asked in surprise and confusion

Was it really that obvious...?

"It's just an observation," Yuri replied with a warm smile, handing him the cloth

Viktor was hesitant, but Yuri looked so soft and sweet.. so warm and inviting....

Before he knew it, he was dipping the cloth into the freshly filled bowl of water and wiping the make up off of his face, cheeks burning red as the black eye and other various cuts and scrapes across his face made themselves clear

Yuri's lips took a down turn, and the more damage Viktor revealed, the more upset he looked

"So if it wasn't JJ, who did this?" he asked as he gently nudged Viktor to lay down on the table

"An old acquintance from Russia, you wouldn't know him," Viktor shrugged back, watching as Yuri flittered around the room like a faery or a butterfly, going from place to place and gathering different bottles, tubes, and boxes of supplies, setting them all on the end table next to the one Viktor was laying on

"Let me guess, he wasn't too happy about you being the pakhan huh?"

".....Are you psychic?" Viktor guessed

Because at this point, it was the only thing he could think of that could account for Yuri's truly uncanny abilities of perception

"No no, that was just a lucky guess, I promise," Yuri said with a slight laugh, grinning at Viktor as he finally collapsed down onto the rolling stool and moved closer to the end table

"Awfully lucky..."

"Well it isn't hard to figure out, you're very young and people rarely take young people in positions of power seriously or think them deserving of their positions, plus you're gay, wich I'm sure doesn't help the general perception of you as a powerfull figure,"

"Ah.... yes, you're right about all of that I suppo- .. wait... did I tell you that I was gay?"

Yuri paused suddenly, blanching at the question

"O-Oh... oh I'm so sorry... are you not out?" he asked worriedly

"N-No!! No no I mean... I _am_ , I'm just... surprised! I.. how did you..?"

"W-Well, from one queer to another..."

"Oooh really?! What flavor of queer are you then!?" Viktor asked excitedly, sitting up only for Yuri to gently push him back down

"I'm Strawberry-And-Bisexual flavored," Yuri replied with a slight laugh

Wow...

Another queer mob boss...

He really _had_ chosen his ally well!

And he was _funny_ too!

Viktor might just be falling a little bit in love here

"And the yakuza are ok with that?" Viktor asked curiously as Yuri reached onto the table beside him and grabbed a small black towel, folding it over and leaning over to gently place over Viktor's eyes

He would have proested but.. ah... it was warm.... _comfortable_...

"Well, maybe not in terms of Japan's entire yakuza population, but my clan is yes, my clan is.... very different,"

"Different how?" Viktor asked, moving to shift the cloth so that he could peak out from beneath it, only for Yuri to gently nudge his hand away

"Oh... in alot of ways, but some of those are really things you'd have to be familiar with yakuza in order to understand the complexity of, and I'm sorry, but try to keep the cloth on for me ok? I don't want these herbs getting in your eyes,"

Viktor was a little hesitant, still overtly aware of the fact that he was in a secret room belonging to another gang leader who lived in the middle of fucking nowhere and could kill him at any second and probably dispose of his body in a way that no one would ever find, but....

But _dammit_ he trusted Yuri

So he obeyed, against what some may suggest as his better judgement

"How did you get to be such a young yakuza boss anyway?" he asked a second later, deciding to shift the subject a little as he felt something warm and damp smooth over one of the cuts on his face, kind of resembling paste, he figured

"Well, my clan has three factions in three different countries- Japan, here, and Australia, in my family it's very important that all factions are lead by a blood relative, but because my mother was an only child and had to take over our main faction in Japan when she was in her twenties, our foreign factions have been lead by non-blood as of the last few decades, now that I'm of age though, I control this one, and my older sister took Australia's when she turned twenty, but at the end of the day my mother is still the head of the family, so we still defer to her, regardless of what happens here or in Australia, at the end of the day, her word is always law,"

"That's fascinating!" Viktor grinned

Over the course of Yuri's explanation, he had gradually been spreading the paste- wich, Viktor noted, smelled strongly of herbs- over the other marks on the pakhan's face, even gently lifting up the warm cloth just long enough to spread it over his bruised eye

Now he noted Yuri shifting down, starting to rub the paste like substance over the massive wound on his torso and trying his hardest not to flinch away from it

It didn't hurt exactly, but it felt strange, sore at first, until Yuri moved his hand away and covered over the wound with some sort of heat source, nothing that made direct contact with the bruise like the cloth would have but... it felt kind of like a dome was placed over his torso, heat circulating through it, trapping the warmth right over the bruise

It was.... an odd feeling....

"So your family is quite different from typical yakuza then?"

"Yes, someday I'll tell you all about that but.... it's a very long story and we're so new to eachother... I feel that we have other ways that we should be getting to know eachother for now, and besides, I'm curious as to how _you_ became such a young pakhan," Yuri mused

"You're right, we should get to know eachother much... _much_ better," Viktor agreed, his expression warm

"As for becoming a pakhan, I suppose that's a family thing too, you may have known this already but the previous pakhan of this area wasn't exactly doing a great job, when he got killed our head in Russia, who happens to be my godfather, decided to assign me, I'm not going to be so humble that I say he didn't think I was right for the job but... in truth, his main motivation was different, he thought it would be good for me here, not only in America, where being gay is actually, you know, _not_ a punishable offense, but being the head of my own divison too, it would give me much needed power to protect myself from fellow bratva members, ofcourse it wasn't just trying to protect _me_ that influenced his decision though, his grandson- who ironically is also named Yuri- is also gay, he sent Yuri- _Yura_ \- here with me so I could protect him, he knew no one would take care of Yura better than I would, both as a relative _and_ a gay man, he knew he could trust me, after that he started sending other queer members of the bratva here, currently there are five of us, wich I'm sure you know is quite impressive! And those are only the ones who are out!"

"That really IS impressive," Yuri said in amazement

"Thanks!" Viktor smiled brightly

"I'm kind of proud of it myself, I know it's not much but-"

"But it _is_ ," Yuri insisted, his expression serious

"Viktor... just _you_ being out is an amazing thing but everything else on top of it.... incredible...."

"Thank you," Viktor said softy, his face turing pink as he cleared his throat, trying to change the subject to something he wouldn't be as shy about

"So how about you tell me then, what this treatment is that you're using on me?"

"Well I guess it wouldn't be fair to say it's a family secret," Yuri chuckled

"It is though, a family secret I mean, well the recipe atleast... it's an herbal paste that my great grandmother invented, it soothes pain and works to repair external damage, but when you apply heat to it the herbs sink down deeper into the skin and repair internal damage as well, so by the time you leave, that bruise should be gone,"

"Really? Wow, amazing!! So is that why you've got the cloth over my eyes still? Because of the heat and the paste?"

"Exactly,"

Viktor couldn't see him, but he could practically _hear_ the smile in Yuri's voice

"I'm glad you understand, I was worried you would get suspicious of me covering your eyes,"

"Ah... truthfully I still am just a little bit but.... I trust you, Yuri, I know that's perhaps foolish of me all things considered, but.... I do, and truthfully, as a queer mobster, I need to rely on other queer mobsters too, the straight ones aren't often going to be my freinds so... without people like you I'll be alone, and that wouldn't be good,"

"It wouldn't, mobs go by pack laws- the strength of the wolf is the pack, and the strength of the pack is the wolf,"

"The Jungle Book," Viktor smiled shyly

"Yeah... Rudyard Kipling was wrong about alot of things, but that wasn't one of them,"

"You even know the name of the guy who wrote it..." Viktor mumbled to himself, earning a questioning hum from Yuri

"A-Ah, nothing, just... you're right, that's all... I've even heard of some gangs that are based on sexuality rather than nationality, gay-only, or lesbian-only, or any flavor of queer only.... I sort of wish I could just be part of one of _those_ but for obvious reasons..."

"Right, I understand how you feel," Yuri agreed gently

Everything _about_ Yuri was unbelievably gentle and soft, Viktor didn't know how on earth he survived as a mob boss, how he ever killed anyone or even so much as spoke cruelly to them, not when he was just so..... _sweet_.....

"It's really great that you're out though, Yuri, maybe I was wrong earlier... maybe... with both of us being this way... we actually _can_ make a difference,"

"Yeah," Yuri agreed, his voice light

"Maybe,"

Were those... Yuri's fingers... sweeping through his hair?

Oh... _oh_ how that made Viktor shiver with delight and yearn for more, crave more, want to _beg_ for more.....

But he resisted, for the moment anyway, and went back to talking instead

The conversation took a turn for the more casual, but even at it's most tame, Viktor found himself learning more and more about Yuri

He learned that he was a big fan of fiction- especially horror and fantasy- and that he was very family oriented and wanted to have kids someday

He learned that he had a dog- ironically named Victor (or, well, Vicchan), after the Corpse Bride charector- and that he was a poodle, just like Viktor's own dog, although a smaller version of the breed

He learned that Yuri's favorite food was a Japanese dish called "katsudon" and that he was a big fan of Taylor Swift, that he loved to read and that he had an anxiety disorder, wich Viktor wanted desperately to learn more about, for the sake of being a good ally, ofcourse

It had _nothing_ to do with wanting to prove himself as a worthy mate, definitely not

Sadly though, just as they had finished comparing notes on their favorite superheros, there was a tap on the door

_"Hey Yuri... you're still alive right?"_

"Yes Phichit, I'm still alive," Yuri called back with amusement

_"Oh thank god, well, you're uh... needed in the **grey room** , you know, when you have a minute?"_

There was a pause, and when Yuri spoke again, it was notably more serious

"Thanks Phich, I'll be right there!!"

Right there?

_Right there_?

But... "right there" meant that he would leave Viktor.... and Viktor was NOT happy with that idea

"I'm so sorry Viktor," Yuri said softly, carefully removing whatever dome-like thing was settled on Viktor's torso and wiping him down with a warm, damp cloth

It felt _amazing_...

"I'll have to finish this conversation with you another time," he noted, carefully lifting the cloth off of Viktor's face before wiping another warm cloth against the paste-covered injuries

"It's alright, I really should be getting back to work too, it's a long drive after all," Viktor smiled weakly, reluctantly sitting up and finding in surprise that he was no longer in pain

In fact, when he looked down, the bruise was completely gone, just as Yuri had promised

Yuri adjusted his glasses, smiling shyly at him and rising to his feet

"Well ah... listen, here's my personal number, and um.... _please_ , don't hesitate to call me anytime, ok?"

Viktor nodded eagerly as he accepted the slip of papper that Yuri was handing him, beaming adorably

"Ah, let me give you mine too!!"

"You can give it to Minako for me ok? I really have to be going, but I promise it'll get to me,"

The only thing worse, Viktor figured, than Yuri having to leave, was Yuri having to leave _quickly_

"Ah... a-alright... but I'll see you again right? ..Maybe soon?"

He probably sounded like a lovestruck teenager, but he couldn't bring himself to care, he liked Yuri too much to give a shit about how he sounded

"Definitely soon," Yuri promised, his expression warm and so very sweet... before he, with seeming reluctance, got up, and headed out of the room, leaving Viktor to put his shirt back on on his own

Damn....

Viktor really wished he had stayed

~+~

"So you're the one who's had it out for my people all this time, hm?" Yuri asked casually, leaning against the wall as he stared at the man chained up in front of him

"Fuck off," the stranger spat, literally spitting on the floor at Yuri's feet- or atleast, as close as he could reach, wich, considering he was in the center of the room and Yuri was at the edge, wasn't all that close at all

"Oh that's not very nice, you don't know who you're talking to do you?" Phichit asked with a deceptively bright smile, snapping his fingers as the man screamed and writhed in the chair he was chained to

Yuri wasn't _entirely_ sure what Phichit had done to the man, but he was pretty willing to suspect he had electrocuted the bastard

"You should really learn that you're not the one in control here anymore," Yuri noted, not so much as budging from his spot against the wall

"I don't answer to you!" the stranger growled

"Not now, no, but you will,"

Finally, he pushed away from the wall, casually sauntering forward, a blank look on his face

"I have my ways of getting what I want out of you, you see, you're in my world now, and in my world, _I_ am the dangerous one,"

Finally, he allowed a smirk to grace his features, head tilting as he stood squarely in front of the bound prisoner

"I'm going to get what I want from you, plain and simple, so.... there's really no point in trying to resist... _Witch Hunter_ ,"


	2. Freindships (And Other Things) Are Magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs are "Beautifull Day" by DJ Melodie, "It's Nice To Have A Freind" by Taylor Swift, and "Party Like A Russian" by Robbie Williams

" _I'm in love it's a beautifull day, I'm in love it's a beautifull way, I don't care what the weatherman say, today's a beautifull day,_ "

Anyone who may have observed the silver-haired man in the pink polo shirt practically skipping down the street with a bag from _"Princess Diana's Doggie Boutique"_ and singing what some would define as "irritating" bubblegum pop to himself would have probably assumed Viktor Nikiforov to be some average twenty-something, potentially in love

They probably wouldn't have pegged him for the pakhan of New York's Russian mafia

Viktor didn't care though, he was happy

He was happier than he had been in ages

All things related to business aside, meeting Yuri was potentially the best thing that had ever happened to him, he had never felt so overcome with love and joy before, and he barely even knew the guy, but....

But it felt like fate was trying to push them together, that _had_ to be it, because just after Taylor Swift's _"Lover"_ started on his playlist, he stopped dead in his tracks, his breath catching in his throat as Yuri stepped out of a shop barely two yards ahead of him

It felt like a scene out of a movie, the wind rustling through the autumn trees as Yuri's long blue coat billowed around him, and he turned around, as if pulled by instinct, to look at Viktor, their eyes meeting across the street

It was... like something out of a love song.....

And Viktor Nikiforov, ever the romantic, wasn't about to let that love song from the universe go unanswered

"YURI!!!" he shouted loudly, waving ecstatically and rushing down the street towards him, not even minding that he had to dodge through a small crowd of people to get to his newest freind

Hurriedly, he yanked his earbuds out, not even bothering to pause his playlist as he shoved them into his coat pocket and beamed like a ray of sunshine at the young yakuza

"Hi!!"

"Hi," Yuri smiled back, laughing a little and pushing his glasses up

"So what brings you out to this side of the city on such a chilly autumn day?" Viktor asked curiously

"Herbs," Yuri answered simply, holding up a small plastic bag with _Nishigori Herbs & Remedies_ printed across it

"Ooh! For your healing stuff right?"

"Yep, and you?"

"Dog treats! There's this fabulous little boutique just a few blocks from here that makes outstanding cookies for puppers! They're totally edible too, they're just like fruity cookies, but without any of the toxic stuff humans put in our bodies so they're safe for dogs, you should try one! And I bet Vicchan would like them!"

Yuri took the liberty of glancing down at the fancy pink papper bag Viktor was carrying, nodding slowly in appreciation

"Princess Diana's.... yeah, my freind Leo has been trying to convince me to give them a shot, his German Shepherd goes nuclear over these yogurt pretzel things they have, but I've been hesitant as Vicchan is kind of a picky eater..."

"Well at the very least you should get the cookies for yourself, they're really good and so much better and healthier than any of those factory made store-bought things, do you want to try one?"

"Sure, why not?"

Excitedly, Viktor shifted the the bag on his arm, rustling around inside it before pulling out a tiny teddy bear shaped cookie, somewhat resembling a Teddy Graham, and offering it to Yuri

"That one is apple, it's my favorite!"

With a breif pause of hesitation, Yuri popped it into his mouth, eyebrows raising in surprise

"....Holy shit...."

"Good, right?!"

"I cannot believe a dog treat tastes this good, this is just humiliating to the big cookie companies out there..."

"RIGHT?! Proof that organic food can be fucking amazing if you put a little effort into it!!"

"Mmm.... you're not wrong.... but I have to admit that food is a huge weakness of mine, even with the best vegan and organic food out there, I'll always be pulled back to the utter junk piles of my childhood, not to mention the artery stoppers like katsudon..."

"I can't say I blame you, my right-hand man- who, ironically, is also named Yuri, so I'll just call him Yura here for convenience- anyway, _Yura_ , he has this horrible pirozhki addiction,"

"You know I've never actually had a pirozhki, what are they exactly?"

Viktor gasped, mocking offense and putting his hand dramatically over his heart

"Oh my god they're amazing! They're these fried buns stuffed with fillings, you can make them anything you want, chicken or beef or even vegetarian, they're very popular and you MUST try one,"

"Only if you try katsudon sometime," Yuri challenged with a smirk

Viktor, never one to back down from a challenge and even less of one to not reap an opportunity when presenting it's self, smirked back and did his best to bat his lashes as he tilted his sunglasses down

"You've got yourself a deal then, Yuri Katsuki, how about Friday night? You come to my place and make katsudon for me and I'll make pirozhkis for you, sound like a plan?"

"That sounds like an excellent plan, but there's one small flaw,"

"Oh?" Viktor asked in surprise, earning a nod from the other man

"Mm-hm, you see now I'm hungry, and I have no immediate lunch plans,"

Beaming even brighter, eyes sparkling, Viktor practically jumped at the chance

"I think I can fix that,"

~+~

"Ok, I'm _sorry_ , but fish crackers just sound kind of terrible," Viktor cringed

"Coming from the land that invented meat jelly," Yuri pointed out with amusement

"Hey, I never said my people were blameless in all this," the Russian laughed in return

Ah...

Yuri couldn't remember the last time he had ever felt this free, this _good_

Viktor was a breath of fresh air that he desperately needed in his life, everything about him was just so sweet and lovely, he could practically see butterflies surrounding the silver-haired beauty, and he almost desperately wanted to spend more time with him

"I'll give you this though, you _do_ know a good cafe` when you see one," Yuri mused as he took another bite of his cake

They had "wasted" over an hour here already but he was so eager to spend more time with Viktor that he kept finding ways to stall- like ordering dessert

Ofcourse, he would venture to say that he wasn't the only one using that particular tactic, Viktor himself seemed all too eager to keep the conversation going, even when it came to natural pauses, he always found some way to start it up again, as enthusiastically as ever

"Isn't this place fantastic? I found it a few weeks ago!" Viktor beamed happily

"Yeah, it really is, and they have alot of variety too, I could probably eat here every day,"

"Then let's have a standing lunch date!" Viktor suggested with a bright, excited smile

"Ah... a standing lunch date?"

"Yeah! We'll meet here tommorrow at the same time, and the day after and... and so on?"

Ah, Viktor seemed kind of nervous, wich was adorable, all things considered...

"Ok," Yuri agreed, taking a sip of his coffee

"It's a date,"

He was reaching for his fork again, but didn't get a chance ultimately, his phone going off and interrupting the action

_"Church bells ring, rice on the ground, looks like snow, call my bluff, call you 'babe', have my back yeah every day, feels like home, the whole weekend, it's nice to have a freind,"_

"Ooh!! You're a Taylor Swift fan too!?" Viktor gasped, as if it were the biggest news of the century

Yuri's licks ticked up, trying not to laugh too hard at the reaction and nodding his affirmation

"Wow!! And Yura teases me for that..."

"Nothing wrong with liking good music," Yuri winked, wich just seemed to thrill Viktor even more as the yakuza answered his phone

"Phich?"

" _Yuri! Minako cracked the egg, can you get here pronto?_ "

"Yeah, not a problem Phich, give me twenty?"

" _You got it, what's keeping you anyway? I thought you were coming back to the inn after seeing the Nishigoris,_ "

"O-Oh I uh.... met... a freind for lunch..."

There was a gasp on the other hand, and Yuri cringed internally at the fact that, inevitably, he was about to get asked The Question

" _Oooooh the pakhan!? Oh my god Yuri I'm so sorry for bothering you! I can tak-_ "

"It's ok Phich, we were finishing up anyway and we're seeing eachother again tommorrow so there's no need to save me a trip, really, this is important, my attention is required,"

In any other case, on any other occasion, Phichit would have protested for the sake of Yuri's flatlined love life

The fact that he didn't just proved that Yuri was right

" _Ok, I'll see you here soon, tell the Russian cutie I said hi!!_ "

"I'll do that, _sayonara tomodachi_ ,"

" _Sayonara tomodachi Yuri!!_ "

The line went dead, and Yuri turned to Viktor with a look of sympathy on his face

"I'm sorry Viktor, I really have to go, it's-"

"Important? So I gathered," Viktor smiled gently, reaching out and taking Yuri's hand, giving it a small squeeze

"It's ok, we'll see eachother again soon, right?"

"Ofcourse," Yuri smiled back, standing up and hesitating for a moment, he didn't want to leave but... he had to, he knew that

"I'll see you soon Viktor," he promised softly, pulling his wallet from his pocket, only for Viktor to stop him, a serious look on his face

"I've got this, ok? Please, go on to your business, it's ok,"

Yuri frowned, about to protest, but Viktor insisted a second time

"I've got it Yuri, just go," he smiled gently

Yuri slowly put his wallet back, reluctantly stepping back

"Ok.... but tommorrow is on me,"

"I'll hold you to that," Viktor teased, waving goodbye as Yuri headed out of the cafe` and sighing dreamily to himself, putting his earbuds back in and closing his eyes as love songs played through his mind

~+~

"So I hear you came to your senses,"

The witch hunter looked like death warmed over- _good_

He'd expect nothing less of Minako's work

"Fuck you...." he still managed to huff, but no matter, Phichit had that covered, an electric shock racked through the hunter's body, the human convulsing and spazzming wildly as Yuri watched, stone-faced, from where he stood at the edge of the room

"I see this was premature, I'll return when you can address me wih some respe-"

"No!" the hunter shouted suddenly, heaving a few heavy breaths, incidentally only needing a single reminder about where his loyalties were currently lying

"I'll talk, just.... don't bring that fucking witch back in here..."

Yuri chuckled darkly, a smirk taking over his face as he stepped closer

"You say that as if you're not talking to another 'fucking witch' right now," he noted with a sadistic smirk, honestly enjoying the way the man grimaced at that

"Don't you boy fuckers go by something else? Like warlock or some shit?"

"A misconception brought about by humans and their sexism, our culture _honors_ women, not that 'witch' is a gendered term to begin with though, and 'warlock' is nothing but an insult to call out a traitor to one's coven, much like you're about to be," Yuri noted casually, grabbing the empty chair next to him and pulling it closer, leaning back in it casually with one leg crossed delicately over the other and his hands neatly folded over his shin

"I'm not a traitor to anybody, don't misunderstand.... my loyalty can be bought,"

"Oh, I see, so you tried to take us out because you were paid to, not because you believe in that bigoted veiws of whoever sent you?"

"Not exactly, I tried to take you out because I was paid to... learning that you're a fucking demon was just a bonus,"

"Mmmm..... did you know about us before you took the job?"

"About witches in general or about your filthy little clan?"

"Both, either,"

"Witches.... yeah, you don't work as a hired gun for too long without learning about the ugly side of the world, atleast not in this city.... you people though? No.... you were a surprise,"

This was good, the guy was singing like a canary, it was rare that hunters spoke _this_ freely, although Yuri supposed it made sense, this one wasn't _really_ a hunter, just a hitman looking for whatever would make him a buck and save his life

"Who hired you?"

"I don't know,"

Yuri hissed, a wince taking over his face

"And you were doing so _well_ for a moment there..."

He glanced up at Phichit, but just as the other witch was about to snap his fingers and send another charge through the hunter-

"WAIT!!" he screamed, panic striking his expression

"I'm telling you the truth! I don't know who it is, not really, he went by a code name, I never saw his face or heard his voice, we talked over texts and emails and he paid me online..... it was going to be half wire transfer, half cash, the cash wasn't going to be delivered until I could produce your heads on stakes,"

"Ok, well he must have gone by _something_ at some point, even if it was an alias or even just a number, tell us what it was,"

"Yeah he had an alias.... Cotton Mather,"

Yuri jerked back a little, his face screwing up into a look of disgust

"That.... is _truly_ abhorrent..."

"Oh like you bastards wouldn't go by Harry Potter if given the chance!"

"Harry Potter is _fictional_ dumbass!" Phichit laughed

"Although you're not wrong, I'd _totally_ use that as my alias if needed, or maybe Newt Scamander instead..."

"That's all beside the point though, this... Cotton Mather.... is he a mob boss too?" Yuri asked, getting things back on track

"I don't know,"

"Is he atleast _in_ a mob?"

"I don't know,"

"Is he involved with other mobs?"

"How do you think he got my number?" the hunter smirked, but Yuri wasn't amused

"Wich ones?"

"Don't know,"

"Well wich ones have _you_ had contact with then,"

"Can't remember, I've been out of New York for a wile, only came back for this call, the last time I was here things were under different management,"

He said it so confidently, with so much arrogance, like he was getting away with something

But he wasn't

"How about nationality then? Who hired you last? The Italians? The Irish? ...The Russians?"

"Don't. Know."

"Is there anything left that you _do_ know?"

The hunter shook his head, much to Yuri's disappointment

"I see," he said slowly, turning his attention to Phichit instead

" _Kare no denwa wa arimasu ka?_ "

" _Īe, watashitachi ga kare o eta toki, sore wa kare no ue ni arimasendeshita,_ "

" _Kuso ̄ ... Jā, kore wa muzukashī hōhō de yaranakya,_

" _Sonoyōni omou..._ "

Clearing his throat, Yuri stood up, straightening out his jacket as he smiled sweetly at Phichit

"Phich, make sure to give some truth serum, ask him everything again, and if he lies... we'll know it, after all, we don't want to use the kind that prevents you from lying.... I'd like you to use the kind that will burn his insides like _acid_ if he does,"

"You got it Boss!" Phichit smiled brightly

"Wait a minute, you had truth serum all this time.... then why did you torture me into confessing on my own!?"

"Honestly?" Yuri smirked, pausing, half-way to the door

"This was _much_ more fun," he noted with a wink, chuckling to himself as he stepped out of the room and hummed softly to himself, the screams of frustration from the human echoing behind him as he made his way to his office, hopping up onto his desk and picking up his landline, dialing Viktor's number

Say what you will about landlines, but Yuri much preferred them to cell phones

_"Hello?"_

"Ah, Viktor, it's Yuri-"

_"Yuri!!! Hi!! How are you!?"_

"I'm doing well-"

_"I'm happy to hear that, I hope your urgent business went smoothly?"_

"It's... certainly going, listen, that's actually what I called you about, I need a favor,"

_"Oh? Go right ahead!"_

"Could you keep your ears open for me regarding someone in the mob circuit? I"m afraid I don"t know much but I _do_ know that he goes by an alias- Cotton Mather,"

_"Cotton Mather? What a strange name, I take it it holds some sort of significance?"_

"Yes, he was a key player in the Salem witch trials and a Reverend, notoriously anti-magic,"

_"Well that's... some... **unique** trivia..... what on earth would anyone choose **that** name for?"_

"Can we maybe call it a long story, with my promising to explain it to you later?"

_"Ofcourse Yuri!! So, ok, how does this 'Cotton Mather' relate to you?"_

"He's hiring hitmen to come after myself and my clan,"

There was a beat of silence, and for a moment, Yuri feared he had lost the connection, before Viktor ended up speaking again

_"Some coward.... has it out for you, and can't even be bothered to attempt doing the dirty work himself?"_

Ah, Viktor's voice had taken on a very different tone then, _angry_ , full of disgust

"Yeah, that's basically it, wich is alot like how Cotton Mather worked during the witch trials too, so I guess the name is fitting," Yuri sighed in response

 _"I see,"_ Viktor said in an ice-cold tone, drained of any empathy, pure rage now

_"I'll keep an ear out and ask around Yuri, you can count on me, do you have any other information?"_

"Not much I'm afraid, just that he's involved enough with the mafia circuit that he's getting the contacts for hitmen that mobs have used in the past,"

_"Mm... well, don't worry, I'll take care of it,"_

"Thank you Viktor, and ah... one last thing?"

 _"Ofcourse Yuri, anything!"_ he chirped, the chipper, happy tone having returned now

"Heads or tails?"

_"O-Oh um... tails? May I ask why...?"_

"Well I'm trying to figure out what to do with the hitman that we currently have here and I don't have a coin to flip, thank you for helping me,"

Viktor laughed over the phone line, and Yuri could practically hear his smile

_"Prevoskhodno! May I ask what I ended up choosing?"_

"Well I was choosing between breaking his neck or burning him alive and... you chose the latter,"

Viktor chuckled darkly, a soft and somewhat satisfied sigh leaving his throat

_"I see, how Puritan of you, let me guess.... hanging or burning at the stake? Witch trial methods? That's appropriate,"_

"More so than you realize Viktor," Yuri mused

After all, that was always how Yuri's clan executed witch hunters- with the same methods they used to execute witches

"More so than you realize..."

~+~

It had been a few days since the incident with the witch hunter first started, and Yuri was starting to get frustrated

So far there had been no new information regarding the recently deceased hunter _or_ the prick who hired him, and now, to top things off, Yuri had solid proof that this wasn't an isolated incident- or atleast what _he_ considered to be solid proof

"Really Yuri, it's ok, you don't have to do anything, it's not like anyone was hurt,"

"Only because you were out at the time and your apprentice isn't a witch," Yuri replied with a tense frown as he glared at the offensive object on the counter

A pouch of witch hazel that had been set on fire and tossed into the shop...

Witch Hazel was a good herb to use, especially in magic, but the smoke from it could seriously weaken a witch, even poison them in high enough doses, and obviously whoever had used the pouch to threaten the owners of the herb shop knew this- _and_ knew the status of the Nishigoris as witches

"Still-"

"No Yuko, you're a freind of my clan's, and more importantly, a member of my coven, it's my _job_ as both the oyabun and the High Preistess to take care of any threats that come your way, I'm not going to let this go, just because no one got hurt _this time_ ,"

Yuko clearly didn't want to agree, but she couldn't argue either, a small nod leaving as she bowed greatfully to Yuri in response

Yuri bowed back, wanting to assure her that it was no trouble

"I'll have someone run a trace on this," he promised, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his latex gloves and face mask, snapping both on before grabbing a papper bag from the stack next to Yuko and then scooping up the pouch of Witch Hazel, still singed just enough to let out some fumes if disturbed, before setting it in the bag and folding it over to keep any potential smoke drowned out

"I promise, I'll find out who did this," he swore, but before Yuko could respond-

_Party like a Russian, end of discussion, dance like it got concussion oh, put a doll inside a doll-_

"Is that... your Russian freind calling?" Yuko giggle-snorted as Yuri hung his head in shame

"Dammit Phichit..." he muttered under his breath- because ofcourse Phichit would do that during the last time Yuri left his phone out

Sighing quietly, he tugged his mask down and pressed the "answer" button- with some difficulty, due to the gloves

"Viktor?"

_"Yuri! I have some information for you on that Cotton Mather thing you asked me about a few days ago!"_

"You do?" Yuri asked with releif and excitement

_"I do! Why don't you come over for tea and we can discuss it, hm?"_

"Ah... well... I'm currently with a client.... and I have a meeting with another in about twenty minutes..."

_"Oh that's ok, just stop by any time, I'm at home all day and I'll text you the address, what do you say?"_

Yuri couldn't help letting a small smile cross over his features, expression growing warm at the invitation

"Ok, that sounds lovely, thank you Viktor,"

_"No no, thank YOU for accepting! I'll see you soon then?"_

"Yeah," Yuri agreed

"See you soon,"

~+~

Viktor's house was... _nice_

It wasn't at all the luxurious mansion that Yuri just assumed that he would have, it was more modest than alot of mob houses he had seen, but it was still a gorgeous home and pretty clearly came from wealth

The outside was littered with Halloween decorations- as was expected, considering Halloween was only two more days away- and when he approached the door and rang the bell, the sound of a barking dog could be heard from inside

All in all it was a very charming place and it didn't exactly scream "Mafia Boss" the way he expected it to

Ofcourse, when Viktor opened the door..... he had to change that assessment a little bit

Yuri felt his heart leap into his throat and his face turn bright red, heart hammering in his chest as he stared at the man in front of him

Viktor was wearing a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows and a pair of grey slacks, barefoot... and covered in blood....

The clothes seemed torn in a few places too....

"Oh Yuri!! Hello!!" he grinned adoringly, although it looked almost _seductive_ now, with the blood and the... the _forearms_.... and he was pushing his bangs back and showing off his muscles and there was a slight sheen of sweat underneath that damn white shirt and Yuri's mouth was _dry_

Oh holy _shit_ Viktor was probably in the middle of torturing someone and Yuri had never felt this turned on in his _life_

"Yuri...?"

"D-Did I catch you at a bad time?" Yuri squeaked, still red-faced as he watched a flicker of confusion cross over the other's face, before breaking out into a bright smile, laughing and shaking his head

"What, this?" he asked, gesturing vaguely to the blood

"No no, I was just polishing up some Halloween decorations,"

"...Polishing up?" Yuri echoed in confusion

Viktor, still beaming, nodded enthusiastically before waving Yuri into the house and shutting the door behind him, heading to the kitchen with Yuri right on his tail and presenting the kitchen table... wich was covered in miscellaneous decorative crafts

A "Beware of werewolves" sign and a set of what looked like married skeletons with an "Even In Death We Shall Not Part" sign above them, a few glasses and jars of various things from severed fingers to jellied animals, and plenty of bottles of fake blood....

"I'm a bit of a crafter," Viktor chuckled, grabbing a towel from the kithen counter and starting to wipe his hands

Even now, knowing that the blood was fake, Yuri was still kind of into it....

"Wow, you're _making_ this stuff? That's.... really cool,"

"Thank you!! My mother always told me 'when you can't buy it, make it'!" he chirped with another hundred watt smile

Yuri kind of wanted to ask about Viktor's mother, find out more about his family in general, but he resisted the urge for now, there were more important things at hand

"Oh forgive me, I'm being a terrible host! Would you like anything to drink? Or food? I was going to bake some cookies!"

"A-Ah, that's-"

"I can make hot chocolate~"

Ahh.... Viktor was winking.....

Saying "no" to a winking Viktor Nikiforov had to be a crime in some countries, right?

"I guess I could use some hot chocolate, sure,"

" _Prevoskhodno!!_ I'll get started! Are you a wipped cream person or a marshmallow person? Oh! Or both?"

Viktor was far too charming and upbeat to be having a serious conversation and meeting about mob business, but... well, Yuri could hardly hold that against him

It was nice to do business with someone who wasn't over fifty and treating every little meeting like they were discussing the end of the world for once

"Both,"

Actually, he was more of a wipped cream person, but Viktor just seemed so enthusiastic.... and it wasn't like he didn't like marshmallows so why not?

"Ooh!! Me too!!"

Maybe Viktor could turn him into a "both" person...

"Happy to hear it," Yuri chuckled as he watched Viktor practically dance around his kitchen, boiling the water and getting the chocolate mix and the mugs...

"So um, what is it that you can tell me about Cotton Mather?"

"Ah... straight to business huh?"

Hardly, but Yuri wasn't about to make a comment about it

"Well, I'm afraid I couldn't find out _much_ , but I do know for certain that he's had contact with the Crispino family,"

That certainly changed the tone of their meeting, no longer were they having a fun time talking about crafts and hot chocolate- now it was _really_ a business meeting

"I see, tell me more?"

"Sadly there's not much to _tell_... I heard it from a good source that a few members of the Crispino family have been contacted by someone of that name in an attempt to either hire them or exchange info on hitmen, the name has traveled around the circuit a little due to those who didn't take the jobs talking about it with others but... that's really it, I'm sorry Yuri,"

"It's ok Viktor, you did a great job getting this information for me, thank you," Yuri smiled warmly, wich triggered yet another beaming ray of a smile from the pakhan as he started pouring the chocolate mix into a couple of mugs

Yuri couldn't help noticing the fact that they were both Disney themed, barely suppressing a grin

"Thanks, but I really do wish I could have done more, I can say this much though, the fact that the guy wants you dead has not been made public,"

"Really?" Yuri asked in surprise

"Yeah, according to what I've heard, the victims he has in mind stay anonymous until after half the payment has been sent, from there, the victim is revealed and after results are produced, then the killer gets paid in full

"I see..." Yuri mused quietly, his eyes narrowing

"So whoever is doing this is probably aware to some extent of my clan's reputation, or atleast of the fact that we're yakuza, and they don't want to mess with that,"

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking too," Viktor agreed as he poured the water from the kettle into the two mugs, followed by a splash of milk in each

"I'm thinking either it's someone who isn't involved in the mob business at all..... or it's someone who's VERY involved, my personal bet would be on the latter, given that he obviously knows who to call to get his information, and I wouldn't guess that someone so out of the loop that they don't even know you're part of the yakuza would be able to do that,"

"You're probably right," Yuri nodded, watching Viktor shake up a can of wipped cream and spray a near _mountain_ onto the hot chocolate in both mugs

....

Well, there went Yuri's New Year's resolution about cutting down on the sugar- though that had kind of been shot as of Valentine's Day anyhow...

"And if that's the case then we're dealing with a coward," Viktor added, grabbing the bag of mini marshmallows

"Only a coward would hire an assassin to take out his own problem- not to mention going to other clans for help? Ugh, I want to cap the prick just for the principal of it,"

"You and I both," Yuri sighed, perking up a little as Viktor brought him the mug of hot chocolate and set it in front of him, moving to sit across the table from Yuri

"If it isn't too personal, may I ask why he might have something against your clan? This... Cotton Mather...? Just so I know what to look out for, maybe it can help,"

"It's-.... well it's a little bit of a complicated story so... if you don't mind my trimming the edges a little, it basically comes down to religion, my beleifs- and those of many of my clan members- are.... not agreeable to alot of people,"

That was the best thing he could come up with other than actually telling the truth, after all, it'd be hard for him to claim something like racism or homophobia if they caught the bastard and he ended up being Japanese or bisexual himself...

"Oh, that's... that's awfull," Viktor frowned

"May I ask...?"

"Um, we're sort of an offshoot of paganism mixed with some traditional Japanese beleifs and- .. there isn't so much a name for it but..."

Yuri paused, sipping his hot chocolate and sinking in his seat, praying Viktor wouldn't pry further

"I understand," Viktor said softly, his voice surprisingly warm and sympathetic

"Russia is Catholic Orthodox, I've.... had a life full of people saying my very existence is a sin... as you may have imagined it drove me away from the church, not that I was ever that religious to begin with but now.... I don't... really know what I believe anymore, well.. maybe that's wrong, I know _some_ of my beleifs, others are a mystery to me.... and I'm afraid to label it really, most of the bratva is still Catholic, they tolerate my sexuality but I worry that if I said anything to imply I had a different religion it would be too much," he said with a sigh, staring down into his mug and plucking a marshmallow off of the top

"I get it, is my point Yuri, and I promise you, I swear.... whatever you are- religion, sexuality, gender, beleifs... I really don't care, I am the least judgemental person you will ever meet and there is not a single fucking thing you could ever tell me about yourself that would make me like you any less," Viktor promised, reaching across the table and taking Yuri's hand, giving it a small squeeze

"I'm so sorry someone wants to hurt you just for being who you are, it's inexcusable, and I **will** help you demolish this bastard,"

Yuri's heart was _pounding_ now, his face pink and his eyes wide with amazement

No one had ever made a declaration like that to him, and Viktor barely even knew him.....

Was he telling the truth though? Could Yuri trust him?

If the word "witch" came out of his mouth.... would Viktor's promise still stand?"

"You sure about that?" Yuri asked quietly

Viktor's eyes crinkled as he smiled, squeezing his hand harder

"Sure, lay it on me, hell you could even be a Satanist for all I care, unless you believe in like... hurting puppies or something... you're safe with me," he promised, winking playfully at Yuri, who gave a quiet chuckle as he looped his fingers through Viktor's, pursing his lips

"It really is a long story but... I'll take you up on that someday Viktor, and no, I'm not a Satanist _or_ a puppy hurter," he teased back

"Ah, well, take your time, I wouldn't want to push you," Viktor chuckled, taking a sip of his hot chocolate and causing Yuri to snicker when he pulled the mug away, a glob of wipped cream stuck to his nose

"What? What's so funny?" the pakhan asked innocently

Yuri decided not to answer, instead leaning across the table and wiping the glob of sugary cream off with his thumb, pulling back and licking it off of his finger then

It wasn't until half-way through this that Yuri realized just how.... _intimate_... that was, and his face started turning a flaming red, matching nicely to the burning pink of Viktor's cheeks

Quickly, Yuri let go of Viktor's hand and yanked his thumb away from his mouth, picking up the cup in front of him and taking a massive gulp, despite how it burned his throat on the way down, it was better than the burning in his face from the blushing

"SO," Viktor grinned suddenly

"Catholic Orthodoxy doesn't leave alot of room for Halloween, Russia has had a soft ban on it for ages,"

"Ah, is that why you went all out with the decorations?" Yuri asked curiously, clearing his throat and batting back the water in his eyes as he set his mug down

"Part of it yeah, other than just being super extra and loving Halloween's aesthetic," Viktor chuckled

"I don't have any plans though, aside from handing out candy.... do... _you_ have Halloween plans?"

"I do actually, we're having a party for my clan at the inn, it's a yearly tradition,"

"Oh,"

Viktor sounded so sad and disappointed... he looked _crushed_ , apparently having been hoping that Yuri wouldn't have anything going on for the holiday either

"Would you like to come?" Yuri blurted out before he could stop himself

"R-Really!? It wouldn't be any trouble!?" Viktor beamed, like a child who had just been given a new toy

"No trouble at all, you and... whoever from the bratva wants to join you, you guys are our allies now, and... you _did_ mention wanting to merge clans at some point.... so it'd be better if we started getting to know eachother's families, right?"

"Y-Yuri...." Viktor breathed, mouth heart-shaped and eyes shimmering

"YES! Yes I would love to join you for Halloween!! Absolutely!!"

"Good, the party starts at nine so I'll pick you up at eight?"

"Hm? But... how will we make a five hour drive in an hour...?"

"Oh I uh.... know some shortcuts," Yuri shrugged back, fidgeting shyly with his glasses

Luckily, Viktor was so trusting of him that he didn't even question it, wich made Yuri feel even more guilty for lying but....

The sad truth was, no matter how much he trusted Viktor, he still barely knew him, and he had heard one too many stories of witches coming out of the broom closets to even their spouses and relatives, people they'd known most of their lives, only to be shunned, hated, or worse....

He couldn't take that risk yet, not just for himself but.... for his coven

"Wow!! Amazing! You'll drive then?" Viktor grinned

"Ofcourse,"

" _Prevoskhodno!!_ "

Yuri chuckled softly, sipping his hot chocolate again

"Oh, by the way Viktor, not that I'm complaining but... why did you invite me out to you house just to talk about the Cotton Mather problem? We could have just talked on the phone,"

"Oh!! Well if I'm being totally honest, I _do_ have an ulterior motive for wanting to see you in person,"

"Do you?" Yuri asked with curiosity, watching Viktor stand up and head over to one of the cabinets

"Yeah, I have a gift for you! Remember? I told you I'd give you something in return for that lovely pin," he winked playfully as he grabbed a small box from the cabinet

"Oh Viktor, you really didn't have to-"

"I wanted to!!" Viktor insisted back with a beaming smile

Yuri sighed softly, knowing there was really no sense in arguing at this point

"Speaking of the pin, have you been keeping it on you?" Yuri asked, his tone having shifted away from the shy and gentle timbre he used in casual situations, now into the much more stable and.. somewhat _dominant_ tone he used when discussing business

"As a matter of fact I have! See? Even now when I'm not able to wear it, I'm keeping it on my person just as you requested," Viktor smiled proudly, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small rolled up cloth that the pin was currently stuck to

"I didn't want to risk it getting damaged because of the crafting but I do usually wear it visibly,"

Oh.... Yuri really wasn't expecting that...

"Wow... I... thank you, for keeping it on you,"

"Well ofcourse," Viktor laughed as he moved back to the table and set the small box down in front of Yuri

"Why would you wear nice clothes though, if you knew you were going to get them messy?" he asked curiously, pulling the box closer

"Huh? Oh these old things? No no no, I ruined these _years_ ago during a kill, I just wear them as my crafting clothes now,"

"Ah..."

Yuri paused suddenly, mid-thought, and stared in amazement down at the newly opened box, his heart pounding with excitement

"Oh Viktor.... this is..... where did you...?"

"Do you like it?" Viktor beamed hopefully, excitement clear in his expression as he reached down to carefully pick up the bracelet in the box below, holding it out to put on Yuri's wrist for him

"I had it custom made by a freind of Mila's! I thought you might like it, since you're into all of the herbal stuff and all I just sorta... thought you might be into crystals and stones too? Um, so I had this specially made for you, it's.. agate for inner stability, turquoise for protection, kyanite for emotional wellness, blue topaz for creativity and mental wellness- you... mentioned having an anxiety disorder? This should help, garnet for creativity and health, it helps stop bleeding wich I'm sure you could use in our line of work and improves sexual health as well, and um... rose quartz... to attract love,"

"Oh Viktor..." Yuri breathed, carefully placing a hand over his mouth as he stared down at the bracelet

"A-And it has a silver snowflake charm on it! See? I... don't have a clan symbol or anything but um.. I wanted you to think of me, to think of Russia, when wearing it and what's more Russian than snow right?"

Without another word, unable to speak any further, Yuri leaned over suddenly and gave Viktor a tight hug- as tight as he could at such a distance

"Viktor... this is the sweetest, most thoughtfull thing anyone has ever given me... thank you.... _thank you_ "

"Oh Yuri," Viktor chuckled, hugging him back gently

"I'm so glad that you like it, but really, you don't have to thank me so much, it's my pleasure to give to you, now a part of me can be with you all the time, just as a part of you is with me all the time,"

Yuri exhaled shakily, squeezing his eyes shut

He and Viktor had only known eachother for about a week but.... they were already so close....

Inviting him to the Halloween party was definitely the right choice

~+~

"You invited him to the Halloween party? That was a terrible choice!!"

In retrospect, he should have known Minako would react like this

"Yuri, do I need to remind you that the Halloween party is _supposed_ to be for our people to have a night of being ourselves? You know, WITHOUT having to tiptoe around the humans? We're in the middle of a witch hunting crisis and you just invited an unidentified number of humans to a WITCH party!"

"I'll watch them the entire night, I promise! And I'd _hardly_ call it a crisis at this point,"

"Yuri they're not puppies, they're much more mischievous," Minako sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose

" _But_ , you're the oyabun, and more importantly the High Preistess, ultimately it's your decision,"

Yuri sighed with a bit of releif, shoulders sagging

"Thank you..."

"Ofcourse, I just hope you know what you're doing,"

"I.. really think I do Minako," he promised, forcing a shaky smile

"I can trust Viktor, I know I can,"

"Ok," Minako agreed with a nod

"But.... Viktor may not be the one we have to worry about,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations in order of appearance:
> 
> -"Goodbye freind"  
> -"Do you have his phone?"  
> -"No, it wasn't on him when we got him,"  
> -"Damn... alright then, guess we'll have to do this the hard way,"  
> -"Guess so...."  
> -"Excellent!"


	3. I Wanna Do Bad Things (And Cute Things) With You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs- "Bad Things" by Jace Everett and "Death Of A Bachelor" by Panic!!! At The Disco

_"When you came in the air went out, and every shadow filled up with doubt, I don' know who you think you are but before the night is through, I wanna do bad things with you, I'm the ki-"_

"I wear to God Viktor if you don't stop singing that stupid fucking True Blood song I'm gonna make you WISH a vampire was ripping you to shreds!"

Viktor, the poor bastard, stopped mid-verse to stare up at Yura with a pout, wich quickly turned into a brightly beaming grin

"Ah, but Yura, I _always_ wish a vampire was tearing me to shreds!"

"Oh shut up you kinky freak," Yura grumbled back

"In fairness Yura, you really did step right into that one," Mila snickered

"You shut up too Mila, nobody asked you!"

Although Yura knew enough from prior experience that that really wouldn't stop her from inserting her opinions anyway

He didn't know why he even agreed to go to this stupid party in the first place instead of just staying home with Otabek and celebrating his birthday

....Except that Beka had seemed kind of like he wanted to and neither of them had ever really celebrated Halloween before, so they were both kind of curious...

"Yuri!!!" Viktor cried suddenly, practically jumping with excitement

"Everybody, Yuri is here!!"

"You've made that obvious Cassanova," Chris snickered

Viktor didn't seem to care though, racing out of the house to greet the yakuza as a simple black Toyota pulled into the driveway, wich caused the other members of the bratva to stare at the car in mild amusement and confusion

It wasn't exactly befitting of a mob boss, that was for sure

No more did the door open before Viktor was practically attacking poor Yuri, who gave a quiet _"oof"_ as he wrapped his arms around Viktor and hugged him in return

"It's nice to see you too Viktor,"

"Oh my _god_! Didn't you two just see eachother this afternoon!?" Yura huffed in annoyance

For God's sake they were acting like they hadn't seen eachother in _weeks_!

"Yes, an entire seven hours ago!!" Viktor cried back

"We had to coordinate our costumes but before we could even go shopping Yuri had to tend to some _business_ ,"

Right, "coordinate", Yura knew all about that so-called "coordination"

Viktor had spilled the beans on that two days ago after excitedly handing the costume he was going to wear before off to another member of the bratva so he could match with Yuri

And now here they stood, both in drag, with Viktor as Galinda and Yuri as Elphaba from Wicked

Actually, Yura noted to himself, the small group was _mostly_ in drag

There were the witch bosses ofcourse, Chris was dressed as Dr. Frank N. Furter from Rocky Horror Picture Show, and even Yura himself was wearing a flapper dress and heels, he wasn't sure if that really counted as "drag" or not but it was worth noting

Then there was Mila, dressed as "a sexy Little Mermaid", leaving the only one out of the six of them in a male costume to be Otabek, who had a 1920s mobster outfit to match with Yura's

Or perhaps more accurately- Yura had gotten his outfit to match with Otabek's

"Yuri!! I want you to meet the most trusted members of my family! This is Yura, my godfather's grandson,his boyfreind Otabek, my newest freind Chris who comes all the way from Switzerland, and last but definitely not least, our first female member, Mila!!"

"It's nice to meet you all," Yuri said politely, bowing at the waist before holding his hand out to the group

"I'm Yuri Katsuki, Viktor has told me all about you,"

"All about _us_?" Chris chuckled, being the first to take Yuri's hand.... and give it a kiss rather than a shake

" _Mon cher_ , you're all he ever talks about,"

Ah, and there was Yuri's face, going red as a cherry

"O-Oh I'm... sure that's not the case...."

"Oh trust us, it is," Mila laughed in reply, taking Yuri's hand herself and holding it with both of her own

"You have no idea how much he just goes on and on about you, how _dedicated_ he is to you, how-"

"O-Ok that's probably enough introductions!! We should really get going!" Viktor exclaimed suddenly, practically yanking Yuri out of the small group and rushing towards the car

"Yuri and I are taking the Toyota, you guys can take Chris's car!"

"Huh!? Why the fuck are you just demanding that the four of us go together!? Wouldn't it make more sense for Beka and I to be with you in case the yakuza tries something!?"

Viktor paused, his expression falling dark as he turned to glare in Yura's direction

"His name is _Yuri_ , not _'the yakuza'_ , don't call him that,"

Yura's eyes narrowed, ready to snap something else back at him, only for Chris to set a hand on his shoulder

"Isn't it obvious little Romeo? Viktor _clearly_ wants to have Mr. Katsuki alone for as long as possible, frankly I'm a little surprised he even invited us at all,"

Well, to that point, Viktor had to admit, he hadn't really been _going_ to, but he figured it might seem disrespectfull to Yuri if he had explicitly asked about Viktor's family meeting his own and then Viktor show up entirely alone...

But that didn't mean he couldn't or wouldn't do everything in his power to hoarde Yuri's attention all to himself regardless

"O-Ok we REALLY should get going, Yuri has a shortcut so just follow our car!" Viktor said quickly, all but pushing Yuri back into the driver's seat as he slid into the passenger's seat next to him, struggling to situate the enormous poofy pink skirt of his dress as he settled

He kind of wished he could have gotten something more theater accurate for the costume but that's what happens when you don't get your costume until the day of Halloween...

"So.... your family seems nice," Yuri mused, clearing his throat as he started the car and began backing out of the driveway

"O-Oh yeah they.... they're something," Viktor confirmed, trying to calm his nerves as he glanced at Yuri, finally taking him in for the first time that night

Even underneath the green body paint, he was still so beautifull....

"You look lovely tonight," Viktor said softly, giving him a genuine smile as Yuri jerked his head up, and though Viktor couldn't tell beneath the paint, he was quite willing to say that Yuri was possibly blushing

"Thank you Viktor... so do you,"

Smiling shyly himself, Viktor instinctively ran his fingers through the blonde curls of his wig, thanking Yuri quietly and taking note of the fact that Yuri had casually rested one arm on the console between them, driving one-handed now

So, taking a well calculated chance, he delicately reached out and slid his hand into Yuri's, his heart beating a little faster as Yuri's fingers curled around his own

Viktor had never felt like this before

He had never felt this.... _fluttery_ and warm and..... like something was _right_

Yuri made him feel safe and complete, like everything was on the right path, and as Viktor gently squeezed his hand and glanced at the side of Yuri's face, at the uptick of his lips and the warmth in his eyes as he watched the road, he thought that maybe, just maybe, Yuri was starting to feel the same way about him

~+~

_"The death of a bachelor! Ooh oh oh, letting the water fall, the death of a bachelor! Oh oh oh, seems so fitting for happy ever after, how could I ask for more!? A lifetime of laughter, at the expense of the death of a bachelor!"_

Yuri was laughing, laugh-singing in tandem with Viktor's overly dramatic car-kareokeeing, and trying his hardest not to take his eyes off of the road no matter how much Viktor was trying to get his attention

He wondered distantly if Viktor even cared that they had a very real possibility of crashing this car if Yuri did, in fact, allow himself to become distracted

He didn't quite know how they had come to this point, one minute they were comparing music tastes, the next Viktor was noting that Yura was quite a big fan of Panic!!! At The Disco but had been refusing to own up to it since they "went too mainstream"- whatever the hell that meant

And minutes later the radio station they were listening to just so happened to start playing a small marathon of their favorite Panic!!! songs

(It was no coincidence, in case that wasn't clear, Yuri absolutely rigged it with his magic)

_"The lace in your dress tangles my neck, how do I liiiiiiiiive?!?!"_

Yuri tried to atleast somewhat contain himself as he half laughed, half tried to sing along with Viktor's enthusiastic rendition of the song, but he knew that this was the perfect opportunity for him to enact his magic so that the "shortcut" he was taking- wich was barely even on the right path to the finger lakes to begin with- would actually get them where they needed to go

With a few words of spell mumbled quietly under his breath, his mind focused and clear, the sky around them began to cloud, fog taking control of the once clear sky, deeper and deeper, thicker and thicker, until Viktor had to actually stop singing- half-way through the last verse of the song- and take note of the situation

"Wow, I had no idea it was supposed to be so foggy tonight...."

"Yeah it's... definitely something," Yuri dismissed as he drove, although it really didn't require much real _driving_ at this point

Viktor pouted a little, glancing out the window but finding himself unable to really see anything

"I hope Yura and the others are still able to follow us... how are you even seeing through this fog?"

"Oh it... gets like this sometimes so I'm used to it," Yuri lied smoothly

"I'm sure the other car is fine,"

In fact, Yuri could gurantee it, considering the fog had definitely consumed the vintage red Jaguar that had been following them

"I hope you're right..." Viktor mumbled back quietly, perking up a little as the fog started to clear

"Oh wow, we're here already? How the hell...?"

"I told you, shortcut," Yuri smiled back, hoping that Viktor wouldn't ask any further

The pakhan clearly _wanted_ to, but was probably a bit too stunned and confused to really bother with it- that or he was just letting it go on the basis of simply wanting to be with Yuri and not wanting anything to interfere with that- including negative feelings

"Right...." Viktor said slowly, watching Yuri turn the engine off and open the car door

But all the same, he followed, fluffing out his skirt upon stepping out of the Toyota and grinning happily when he noted that, indeed, Chris's Jaguar had followed right behind their own car

"What the fuck was with all that fog?!" Yura shouted upon stepping out of the car, an annoyed look clearly on his face as he slammed the door shut, despite Chris's protests that he treat the old car more gently

"I don't know, it just gets like that here sometimes," Yuri replied with a shrug, crossing closer to Viktor and taking his hand once more, much to Viktor's obvious adoration

Clearly any suspicion that the other may have had was gone at this point, overriden by his desire to be in Yuri's presence

Yura still didn't seem to buy it, but atleast he wasn't questioning it now, especially as Otabk had stepped out of the car as well and draped his jacket over Yura's shoulders to help keep him warm against the bitter chill of New York's autumn night

It was hard to tell if it was intentional or not, but the addition of the jacket actually seemed to add more to the couple's costumes, with Yura as more obviously "belonging" to the other mobster, who's suspenders and gun holster were much more visible now that the jacket wasn't in the way

Viktor and Yura had started arguing about the fog, but Yuri's eyes had shifted down to the holster, eyeing the glint of black metal and stepping a little closer to him

_Viktor may not be the one we have to worry about_

Yuri didn't exactly expect the bratva to go much of anywhere weaponless, his clan certainly didn't, but it was still unnerving to see a peice in such plain sight

It made him wonder if there was something more to the displayed weapon than just a nice touch to the outfit

"Convenient costume," Yuri noted with a small smile, and once Otabek realized Yuri was talking to him, blinked in slight surprise

"You're the only one who can realistically have an excuse for having your weapon visible, was that what made you decide on that costume?"

"Actually it was Yura's choice, he said it would look sexy on me," Otabek replied simply as Yuri took another few steps forward

"I see, pretty cool... you wouldn't happen to be carrying a _vintage_ revolver would you? Smith & Wessen Model 19? The handle is so distinct," Yuri mused

"I am, it's a genuine vintage too, not one of the new reprints,"

"Damn," Yuri grinned with a soft hissing sound, clearly impressed

"I can see why you'd want to show it off then, ofcourse that model wasn't actually around until the mid-thirties but... I can't exactly blame you for wanting an excuse to bring it out of hiding," he hummed, picking up the skirts of his dress and bending down, reaching one hand up his dress and easily pulling his own firearm from the holster on his thigh, straightening and giving the gun a twirl before holding it out to Otabek, barrel facing himself, a clear sign of peace

"I'll show you mine if you show me your's?"

"Funny, Viktor never described you as a gun guy," Otabek mused, reaching for his own peice and pulling it out, hesitating a moment before turning it to have the barrel facing himself, just like what Yuri was doing

By now the arguing between Viktor and Yura had stopped, and the small group behind Otabek was frighteningly silent

"I have a complicated relationship with guns, I'm from Japan, our gun laws are _very_ strict, wich is how I believe they typically should be.... and yet given that I use them myself so frequently I can't quite say that I hate them, they're cool too, even if they're horrible,"

"You're right," Otabek mused as he held his gun out for Yuri, taking the yakuza's quickly in return as Yuri's hand wrapped around the revolver

"That _is_ a complicated relationship,"

Yuri's fingers skimmed over the gun a few times, before gently dislodging the cylinder and popping one of the bullets out of it's chamber

Otabek had yet to do a damn thing with Yuri's gun, except to clasp his hand around the handle, fingers inching closer to the trigger with each passing second

Yuri's fingers moved over the bullet a few times, focusing his magic to sense what was inside it

Gun powder, certainly, but...

He was searching for Witch Hazel, for even a trace of it

If there was any, even the slightest amount, he should feel a tingle going through his fingers, like a struck nerve....

.....

Nothing

"Sorry if this unnerved you," Yuri mused as he slotted the bullet back into the chamber and easily flicked his wrist to pop the cylinder back into place

"I'm just a fan of vintage weapons," he said with a polite smile, turning the barrel towards himself as he handed the gun back

Otabek, with understandable hesitation, reached out and took the gun back, returning Yuri's own as the yakuza bent down again and reinserted the gun into his thigh-holster, resisting the urge to chuckle at the quiet, wanting, groan that left someone in the group at the reveal of his pale skin- almost certainly the groan belonged to Viktor

"No one told me we were having a gun show, isn't anyone interested in seeing what I'm packing?" Chris asked with a pout, clearly trying to relighten the suddenly tense mood

Yuri was thankfull to him for that

"'Believe me Giacometti, absolutely no one wants to see that," Yura grumbled as he stomped closer to his boyfreind and hooked his arm around the other bratva's, glaring pointedly at Yuri the entire time

"I hesitate to ask this but where do you even _have_ your gun?" Mila asked in confusion

After all, Chris was wearing nothing more than very tight lingerie, heels, and a pearl necklace

Unlike the others, his thighs were clearly on display, there was no place for a concealed weapon, and it definitely wasn't _clearly_ visible

"Ooooh I'm glad you asked!!" he grinned, clapping his hands excitedly as he began reaching for his panties

"Wait! I rescend the question, I definitely don't want to know!"

And thus the previously light mood was restored, atleast for the other four

Viktor, however, had taken alot more concern to the near incident as he moved closer and took Yuri's hand, curling his fingers gently around it as Yuri lead him to the entrance of the inn

"What was all that about?" Viktor asked quietly, obviously quite concerned

"As I said, I have a complicated relationship with guns but really enjoy vintage weapons,"

Viktor's expression displayed exactly how much he trusted that explanation- wich really wasn't much at all, but he resisted the urge to ask, atleast for now

He trusted Yuri, after all

He was just beginning to worry that that trust was onesided...

~+~

"Yuri, there you are!! Happy Halloween!!"

Turning towards the voice, Yuri smiled and waved towards his best freind as Phichit headed over to the group, finally having spotted eachother after half an hour of Yuri and the bratva being at the party

They'd already talked to Minako, who, much to Yuri's surprise and releif, did nothing to imply her distrust of the Russian mobsters

In comparison, introducing Viktor's mates to Phichit would be a breeze

"Happy Halloween Phich," Yuri smiled back politely as the other yakuza skipped closer, beaming brightly, his fake vampire teeth glinting in the low light of the inn as he turned his full attention to the group surrounding Yuri

"These must be our new Russian brothers and sister!!"

"Yep, guys, this is Phichit, my right-hand man, Phich, this is Yura, Mila, Chris, and Otabek, and ofcourse you know Viktor,"

"Sweet, nice to meet you guys!" Phichit smiled, holding his hand out politely towards them

And just like with Yuri, Chris was the first to extend a gesture back, taking Phichit's hand and giving it a dramatic kiss

" _Bonjour, mon cheri,_ "

"Ooooh we've got a Frenchmen with us now huh? Cool, rounds out Culture Club a little better," Phichit winked back

"Actually I'm Swiss, _mon cher_ , what's... Culture Club...?"

"A running inside joke," Yuri answered with a small shrug

"We're a primarily Japanese yakuza group ofcourse, but Yuri has become kind of known for picking up people from all over the place to join up with us, we call it Culture Club! For example, I'm Thai, but I moved to Japan when I was a teenager and Yuri and I have been closer than brothers ever since, then you've got- you see the pirate and the medevil knight over there? Leo- who's Mexican American- and Guang Hong- Chinese- you guys are Russian, obviously, and even though you're not technically yakuza, never say never,"

Phichit winked directly at Viktor

Yuri blushed under his green make up

"Then over there you have Lena, who's half Irish, and Ciao Ciao, who's Italian-"

"You have an Italian in your mob?" Mila asked suddenly, clearly surprised

"Huh? Oh yeah, Celestino's been with us since before Yuri took over this branch actually, he was a freind of the old oyabun of the area-"

"You have an Irish too," Otabek pointed out, his eyes practically glued to the brunette in the Batgirl costume across from them, talking- ~~flirting~~ \- with a cute blonde dressed like Supergirl

"Well yeah-"

"I think what my associates are trying to _tactlessly_ point out is that the Irish and the Italians are two of our biggest enemies and we're a little surprised at the association," Viktor interrupted with a polite smile

"It's ok, we get that reaction alot from _gaijin_ ," Phichit said just as politely

"Gaijin..?" Viktor repeated slowly, tilting his head

"Foreigners or, more appropriately in your case, outsiders, in Japan it'd refer to your ethnicity but we just use it to refer to non-yakuza here," Yuri explained

"And don't worry, we don't blame you for being kind of suspicious, Yuri knew when he let them in in the first place that it'd be a little controversial,"

Yura huffed, eyes narrowing in annoyance

"Then why the fuc-"

"Just like he knew hooking up with the bratva- especially one who's reputation prior to Viktor taking over was notoriously bad, and who's done little to correct that inside the community thus far- would be controversial and even possibly alienate deals with other clans,"

Ah, Phichit was still smiling, his tone was still light, but he definitely had gone from being laidback and cheerfull to a more intimidating demanor

"Do you just _like_ being the topic of negative conversations then?" Yura snipped, glaring in Yuri's direction, but Yuri didn't even get the chance to respond, Phichit jumped in before he could

"Yuri just likes helping people, he took in Lena and Celestino when they needed him, just like he helped you guys when _you_ needed him, and to answer the question sitting on your tongues, yes, they were in association with the Irish and Italian mobs respectively, Lena escaped from her's and Ciao Ciao was kicked from his, Tasuku Kurosaki- who was the oyabun here before Yuri was- took him in initially, and Lena came to us right after Yuri took over here, but they're both incredibly loyal to us, they're yakuza, regardless of ethnicity, just like you guys are bratva, so if you have a problem with them, you have a problem with all of us,"

Ahh.... that was.... certainly a speech

And Phichit's pointed comment about the bratva being _bratva_ versus Lena and Celestino being _yakuza_ had certainly not gone unnoticed by the oyabun

"There isn't a problem," Viktor said quickly and sternly, clearly answering for the other four, regardless of their own opinions

"Please forgive the lack of tact on the part of my family, Russians can be very blunt,"

"That's ok, Japanese can be overly polite, we all have our issues," Yuri said quickly, eager to calm the tensions between the two clans and wondering in the back of his mind how less than an hour into the night had already brought about two confrontations...

"Well luckily, Thai have neither problem," Phichit noted teasingly, winking at the two of them before taking Viktor's hand and giving it a firm but gentle shake

"It's a pleasure to see you again Viktor,"

Oh thank God, Phichit wasn't holding this against him...

Even though Yuri was the oyabun of the clan, Phichit had a tendency to step in and speak or act for him when he thought Yuri was being too passive, and Phichit was the type who would rather burn a bridge with fraying rope than try to repair it if a repair would be too troublesome, so he sometimes acted against Yuri's personal better judgement

But....

Luckily he seemed to consider Viktor as being sincere when he apologized for Yura's reactions from earlier and was willing to forgive and forget

"So when Yuri called you his _right_ hand earlier, did he actually, by chance, mean _left_ hand?" Chris asked curiously, a small smirk on his face

"Well yes and no, technically his left hand is Minako, but I do alot of the dirty work too, Minako and I sort of blur the lines of right and left but I think ultimately the positions are what I said," Phichit mused thoughtfully

True, Minako often took positions of advisement for Yuri and Phichit often took on the role of executioner, but....

Phichit was always the first person Yuri took advice from and Minako was their torture expert who was always first on Yuri's speed-dial when he needed something violent enacted, despite the fact that the two at times traded places, Yuri was firm in where he had placed them when he first took over the yakuza branch

"Oh interesting! She's really your left? She didn't seem that intimidating," Viktor mused in surprise

"You haven't met her when she's angry yet," Yuri noted with a small smile

"Well, right or left, I still find positions of power outrageously sexy," Chris said with a wink, taking Phichit's hand again and giving it another kiss

"Oh do you?"

"Mm, _oui, mon cher_ , I _am_ sorry for my ruder associate... won't you let me make it up to you with a drink?"

"I think I can allow that," Phichit smirked back, curling his fingers around the Swiss's and winking at Yuri before starting off into the crowd of people, starting some conversation about how much he loved Chris's costume to further dissipate the negative energy that had come from the earlier tension

"I see a cute girl I'm going to go talk to, _dosvedanya_!" Mila said quickly, vanishing into the crowd as well, leaving only Otabek and Yura as the obstacles between Yuri and Viktor having some alone time

"Well......... Yura and I are going to............ go find food," Otabek noted awkwardly, reaching down to take Yura's hand

"Eh? We are?"

Clearly Yura didn't understand the meaning of subtlety

"Yes, we are," Otabek agreed

"U-Um... there's a buffet by the reception counter, Marinette should be able to point you towa-"

"But I'm not hungry!" Yura protested in annoyance

"Do you want them to just start making out in front of us?" Otabek replied in what he probably _thought_ was under his breath- it really wasn't

".... _Gross_...." Yura sneered in disgust, wich was apparently all the confirmation Otabek needed before tugging him off in the direction of the reception counter

Yuri was going to blush hard enough to melt his make up off, wasn't he?

Hands over his face, Yuri resisted the urge to start screaming in embarrassment, but atleast Viktor looked amused

"So, it's just the two of us," Viktor mused, prompting Yuri to shyly look up from his hands

"Didn't you promise me once that you'd give me a tour of this place sometime?"

Yuri gave him a soft smile, his expression warm as he gently reached out and wrapped his hand around Viktor's

"Yeah," he agreed, starting to pull Viktor away from the crowd and towards the back doors of the inn

"I did,"

~+~

"This is where we're having an indoor onsen,"

"WOW!! AMAZING!!!" Viktor cried out, beaming at the room in front of him like he was staring at the Millennium Falcon, even though it was just a plain room at the current moment, messy from construction and with blueprints and plans scattered on the floor from where the workers were had stopped building for the day

"A hot spring indoors!! How does that work?!"

"Well it'll be like an indoor pool almost, but obviously much smaller and underground heating, we're importing the water from Japanese springs to keep the mineral value and health benefits,"

"Incredible...." Viktor damn near _wimpered_

"Won't the water mold the floor though?" he pointed out, glancing down at the hardwood floor beneath their feet

"That room is being expanded and redone in stone flooring so... no,"

"Wow.... then Yuri, you'll have to invite me back here when you have it finished so we can take a bath together!"

Yuri was instantly glad that he hadn't accepted that apple cider he'd been considering drinking during their tour, he would have choked to death on it at this point from that

"Y-Yeah I mean-.... that... that's a thing we can do," he mumbled squeakily, his face bright red as he took Viktor's hand and steered him towards another room a few doors down

"I never understood how Japan had such a shy culture but was so ok with public bathing," Viktor mused, more likely to himself than to Yuri, really

"Nudity isn't really seen as indecent in Japan in alot of circumstances, it's just seen as part of life, likewise _I_ can't really understand why westerners are so conservative about it, you guys act like we don't all have basically the same body parts,"

He worried breifly that that might sound offensive but-

Vviktor burst out laughing, clearly pleased with Yuri's response

He had a tendency not to get up in arms about much, it seemed

"You're right! It's kind of silly isn't it? I'll never understand human culture in general you know, why is violence generally so acceptable but nudity and sex- natural parts of life and an expression of love- so horribly censored? Why is it better to encourage people to kill eachother than to love eachother?"

Yuri's expression warmed, a gentle smile on his face as he opened a door to another one of the rooms

"You're right, you know," he noted softly

"I think the world would be a much better place if we all encouraged love instead of hate,"

Maybe it was ironic for a yakuza boss to say that, but it was true

The very purpose of Yuri's clan in the first place was to combat the violence that had come towards them, after all

The Katsukis had started as a coven and became a yakuza clan much later, after having little other choice to defend themselves against a band of witch hunters who had hired a yakuza clan of their own

Things sort of spiraled from there, but Yuri had never changed his priorities

The Katsukis were a coven first, and a yakuza clan second

"Oohhh what's this one?"

"A salt cave,"

Viktor blinked, head tilting as he took a step towards the entrance, only for Yuri to hold his hand up and force him to stop, reaching into a box by the door to pull out a set of papper shoe covers

"Oh, really?" Viktor asked in surprise, though he didn't hesitate to accept the tacky blue garment sand slide them over his shoes

Yuri worried breifly that his heels would peirce through the papper but... he supposed it didn't matter much, worse case scenario, Yuri would just have to do a clean sweep of the room later

"So what's a salt cave?" Viktor asked curiously as he stepped into the room, wobbling a little once his feet hit the aforementioned salt crystals that covered the floor

"It's a cave made of salt,"

Viktor looked over his shoulder at Yuri, and the witch could barely keep himself from laughing

"Sorry, that was mean, it's... well, I mean, it _is_ a cave of salt," Yuri mused as he stepped in behind Viktor, lifting the skirts of his dress for better balance and shutting the door behind him

The room was quiet and dark, with only low candle light to guide them and soft New Age music playing in the background, and..... it was, indeed, floor to ceiling salt crystals

"It's Himalayan salt, it helps cleanse your body, it can help with both physical and mental ailments, just being in the pure air and touching the salt can help, I'm sorry, I don't know how to explain it very well, but... that's the idea,"

"Like a health spa?" Viktor as he wobbled after Yuri through the room

The floor had to be atleast four or five inches deep of salt crystals, it was worse than walking through sand, but Viktor didn't really mind it, he was just curious

"Pretty much yeah, you stay here for anywhere from thirty minutes to an hour, we reccomend fourty-five minute sessions personally but you can stay longer, if there's a particular part of your body that's hurting or overcome with an ailment then leave that part uncovered and the salt will help it,"

"Oh wow! Do you ever get people in here who just, you know, strip?"

"Yeah, but they have to book private sessions," Yuri replied, holding his hand out for Viktor to help him steady himself as he guided him towards a small row of lounge chairs in the center of the room

"This is all so interesting... why is it so cold in here though?"

"It has to be to keep the salt from getting all sticky and gross,"

"Ooh..." Viktor said softly, flopping down on one of the chairs and watching with a loving smile as Yuri bent down to a cabinet in the corner of the room and retreived a couple of blankets, heading back to Viktor and handing him one before starting to unfold the other

"This is so amazing Yuri... and the... fourth or so room that's dedicated to health right?"

"Mmm, that you've seen yes,"

Ofcourse that wasn't including all of the other rooms that were more _private_ , that humans weren't allowed in, but Yuri wasn't about to actually say that

"Then you really care about people and their health huh?" Viktor asked with a warm smile, staring at Yuri with bright, sparkling eyes

"I... I do, yes," he confessed, face a little pink

"I mean it can't be helped, my family owns an onsen, I was raised with health in mind... ofcourse there's no such thing as a _proper_ onsen here in America but... I can't help wanting to bring a little of that here with me as well," he mused as he laid back in the chair next to Viktor's, settling the blanket over his lap and leaning over on instinct to start unraveling Viktor's for him

Judging by the look on Viktor's face, the pakhan hadn't even thought to do such before

"Still... I find it very sweet, lovely even," Viktor promised with a loving smile of his own

"Do you now?" Yuri asked with a small, teasing smile, watching as Viktor huddled under the warmth of the blanket and trying not to giggle at him

"Yeah, you obviously care about people- I mean _really_ care about them, that's pretty rare in our business, wouldn't you say?"

Yuri nodded slowly, leaning his head on his hand as he watched Viktor practically sink into the chair- a common reaction really, the salt cave was notoriously relaxing and soothing, alot of people even fell asleep in there

"I guess you have a point, it isn't all mobsters that care about people as a general species..."

Viktor chuckled softly, nodding in agreement as he turned on his side so that he and Yuri were facing eachother directly, reaching out a bit hesitantly and looping his fingers around Yuri's, toying with his fingers aimlessly, his eyes focused on their joined hands rather than looking up at Yuri's eyes

"I'm.... really sorry about earlier, Yura's _got_ to learn some manners,"

"O-Oh it's really ok, I mean, it isn't like anyone was really listening and-"

"No it isn't ok," Viktor interrupted, a frown on his face as he stared up at Yuri, before his expression softened considerably

"Yuri... so much about you makes for such a great mob boss.... but you've got to learn to stand up for yourself or you'll get trampled on, and even the smallest bits of disrespect should be punished in some form or another,"

"He's just being cautious Viktor, I can't blame him for that..."

"But you can blame him for how he addressed that caution, take Otabek for example, I saw how tense things were between the two of you earlier tonight but he handled things atleast half-ass gracefully, Yura just...."

He paused, exhaling a little and shaking his head

"A bull in a china shop that boy..."

Yuri laughed a little at that, smiling a bit

"Yeah I mean... you're not wrong about that,"

"And both of you need to learn that, he needs to learn so he doesn't piss off the wrong person and _you_ need to learn so that you don't get taken advantage of,"

Yuri hung his head, as if guilty, and chewed a little on his lip

"But don't worry," Viktor mused, winking playfully at his freind

"Lucky for you I have _zero_ problems standing up for myself, I can teach you,"

"Well if you can do what Phichit hasn't been able to in all this time, I'll be _seriously_ impressed,"

"Good," Viktor smiled, squeezing Yuri's hand a little

"I'm counting on that,"

Yuri's expression was warm as he squeezed back

He wondered distantly if Viktor was having anywhere near as good of a Halloween as he was...


	4. Does This Qualify As A Crisis?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs: Pretty Little Psycho by Porcelain Black

When Viktor woke up in the morning, it was in an unfamiliar room

It took him a moment to recollect his thoughts and remember what had happened the night before, his shoulders sagging in releif as he realized that he had not, in fact, been kidnapped

Rather, the party had lasted late into the evening and Yuri had insisted that they shouldn't drive back so late, it would be dangerous, they were all tired, so the bratva should just sleep over at the inn

No one had objected, and although Viktor had been sad when Yuri told him goodnight at the end of the evening and made his way to the private room he kept open for only himself, he knew that just inviting himself to follow Yuri would probably be pretty...... rude.... to put it mildly, so he stayed in the empty and lonely room himself

Now it was the next morning and it had occurred to him that he would get to see Yuri again

He slipped on the complimentary yukata that the inn provided him with and immediately headed out of his room, bedhead and all, to search for Yuri, excitement pouring through every vein as he finally managed to catch the sight of a familiar face

"Ahh, Miss Minako!!" he called out, waving her down as the yakuza woman turned around, her hair up, wearing a yukata herself, and she... had tattoos....

It was hard to tell from the limited amount of skin she was showing what they were, but they were definitely there

Yuri had said they were optional before, he wondered if this meant that Yuri had one too....

Swallowing tightly, trying to banish the blush-worthy thoughts, he gave the woman a bright sunshine smile

"Do you know where Yuri is? I'd love to have breakfast with him! And to thank him for this super comfy yukata!!" he beamed

"Sorry, Yuri already left,"

Oh... that.... certainly wasn't what he was expecting to hear

"He.. left....?"

"Yeah, he wanted to stay until you woke up and drive you back but there was an emergency,"

"Is everything ok?" Viktor asked worriedly

"Everything is fine, you'll have to talk about that with Yuri later, anyway, he wanted you to know that one of the kobun will take you home so you don't have to worry about that long ass commute,"

"It's ok," Viktor said softly

"I'm sure I can drive just fine,"

Minako frowned a little at that, her expression softening, although sad and sullen

"Yuri really did want to be here you know, he wouldn't have left if it weren't an emergency,"

Viktor wanted to believe her- he really did

But.... he still couldn't help feeling the hurt bubbling up in his chest all the same....

~+~

"I guess this really _is_ a crisis," Yuri said with a heavy sigh

"Crisis On Infinite Witches," Phichit grinned from beside his freind

Yuri looked... honestly exhausted, but he forced a small smile anyway

"Yeah it kinda sucks but this early in the morning it's the best I've got," Phichit shrugged

"That's ok Phich, you don't have to cheer me up," he said softly, wich only seemed to make matters worse as now Phichit was none too pleased

"I know I don't _have_ to Yuri, but I AM your right-hand man, you can't really expect me not to try, can you?"

"I suppose not," Yuri replied softly, gently curling his fingers around Phichit's as they stared down at the body on the ground

"And... Yuri..... you _know_ that this isn't your fault... right?"

Yuri gave a non-committal shrug and Phichit's frown only deepened, moving to step in front of his boss and place his hands firmly on Yuri's shoulders, squeezing tightly

"Yuuuriiii, please, please tell me that this is just you not having had your morning coffee yet, _do **not**_ tell me that you actually believe this was your fault!"

"If not mine then who's?"

"Um, the witch hunter's? The bastard's who HIRED the witch hunter? The high preistess of her OWN coven? Yuri she isn't even one of our's!"

"But she is still a _witch_ ," Yuri replied firmly

"And New York is **MY** city, an attack on any of us is an attack on all of us, you know that, and I _let_ this happen-"

"By that logic then this is _also_ Stevie Nicks' fault by being the biggest witch in the _country_ ," Phichit noted with a skeptical huff

"Phich-"

"No, no way, I am not going to listen to you destroy yourself over this! You are doing everything you can to burn out the people tormenting us Yuri, and I won't let you beat yourself up over not being able to fix the problem in record time!"

Yuri looked like he was about to argue, but he didn't get a chance

" _Katsuki-San, ningen no keikoku!_ "

Oh great, Leo had just alerted them to the fact that the person he was walking with was human...

Well, it couldn't be helped, they were working with the police force after all, it was a miracle that Leo had even been able to get them to come in undercover in the first place

In order for them to work the crime scene, they'd have to keep themselves under the radar

"Katsuki-San, this is my partner, Detective Walsh, with the NYPD, Detective, this is Special Agent Katsuki and Special Agent Chulanont with the FBI, I hope you don't mind, they're a little more comfortable speaking Japanese, so we may drift in and out of that a little,"

The detective, who seemed skeptical of their presence but not necessarily objecting of it, gave a simple nod and reached out to shake hands with the pair

"Nice to meet you both, what's the FBI investigating this for though? It seems like a pretty average homicide to me,"

"We're tracking a serial killer who might be involved, it's a pretty tight-lipped thing though so we can't give you alot of details at the moment," Phichit explained

"Sure, I understand that,"

Wich, based on tone alone, was an enormous lie

"What do we know so far about the cause of death?" Phichit asked, doing his best to start drawing the detective's attention away from Yuri and Leo so that the two of them could have a little more privacy to discuss the bigger issues at hand

" _Daijōbudesuka? Kore wa asa no sugoshikata to wa chigau to omou_ ," Leo noted quietly as he stepped closer to Yuri, who just looked up at him and smiled to the best of his ability

" _H-hai, genkidesu, kiite kurete arigatō,_ "

Leo seemed a little skeptical, but clearly trusting his oyabun- and more importantly his High Preistess- to be honest with him

"Then let's look at the body, see if anything jumps out,"

Yuri nodded his agreement and started looking the corpse over for any obvious signs of witch hunter marks

He just hoped that he had been wrong before, and that this, in fact, wasn't as much of a crisis as they were trying to say it was....

~+~

"Well? What do you think?"

"I think it's a great location, but who will we get to run it?" Viktor mused slowly, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he stared at the restaurant in front of him

Ever since he learned of Yuri's inn business he had been eager to get a business of his own running so that the bratva would have a place to meet aside from the little office building he owned- wich was really no fun for anyone

The inn gave Yuri a certain type of energy, it helped bolster that he knew what he was doing and was a good businessman, to have something like that running for himself, and it offered a genuinely nice place for himself and his associates to meet unbothered, even providing amenities that they would enjoy

It assisted in making Yuri valuable, even if the inn it's self held only a questionable weight in value, the pleasure that came from meeting there always made associates feel more at ease and actually look forward to the meetings a little

Whenever Viktor compared it to his own boring office building, he felt like he was truly lacking, and he certainly didn't want to be in lack of anything

Besides, he really liked the alliance he and Yuri were building together and he would like to continue that with other groups and organizations in the area too, and for that, he really would need a more inviting place to meet...

"Well what about me?" Chris hummed, one hand on his hip as he rested the other on Viktor's upper arm, his own arm slung across Viktor's shoulders as if they were old pals

Chris may be one of the newer members of the bratva, but Viktor already trusted him immensely

They got along very well and Chris had proved himself more than once to not only be a valuable asset, but also to be incredibly loyal

That was a good combination to have on his side for sure

"I don't know, do you have any experience running a restaurant?"

"Well no, but I have some business experience in general and I'm going to hire a team of managers, how hard can it be?"

"Ah... somewhere out there Gordon Ramsey is screaming...."

Before Chris could make a- likely sexual- response, Viktor's favorite ringtone went off

_Oh oh oh, oh here we go, walkin' talkin' like you know, I want your pretty little psycho_

Chris made a sound, as if all the air was being punched out of his body

"I-Is that your ringtone for the yakuza?!"

"What made it so obvious?" Viktor replied innocently

_Oh oh oh, oh here we go, baby strike a pose, I want your pretty little psycho_

Chris was staring, Viktor decided not to wait for a response and just answered the phone

"Yuuuriiii!!! How are you? What's going on?" he asked cheerfully

_"Hey Viktor, do you... do you have a second?"_

"For you Yuri, I have many seconds, what's up?" he purred happily, waving Chris off to go... talk to the real estate agent or something, he didn't really care, he just wanted to talk to Yuri alone

_"I want to talk to you about this morning-"_

"Don't worry about that Yuri, really, I know how busy you are, I woul-"

_"There was a murder,"_

All of a sudden, just like that, everything changed

Viktor wasn't nearly so cheerfull anymore, and he felt something heavy sink in his stomach

"...Who?"

_"I don't know her, she... wasn't one of mine, but she was from a neighboring clan,"_

"Neighboring clan? I... thought your's was the only yakuza in the city..?"

_".....It's complicated, and not important, the point is, Cotton Mather has amped up his game, this has just gotten far more serious than it already was,"_

"I understand, what can I do Yuri? How can I help?"

_"....I.... am honestly not sure... we're trying to investigate on our own right now, just keep your eyes and ears open I guess, but I just wanted to call and explain that I **never** would have just run off on you like that if it hadn't been so serious,"_

"Oh Yuri..." Viktor breathed, his shoulders falling with the breath

"Yuri, you golden-hearted thing... I knew it was important... granted not _that_ important, but you don't need to worry so much about me ok? We're both in the same boat here with business, I get it, shit happens, I'm not going to get pissed over something so minor,"

_"I-It isn't just about pissing you off Viktor, it was incredibly rude of me to not so much as leave a note, I just want you to understand I'm... I'm not like that, ok? I'm not some.... some hit and quit!"_

Viktor snorted, having to put a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing

"I'm not so sure you're using that term right... but Yuri, I understand, I never thought that you were, everything between us is a-ok, ok? I promise, you have my word,"

_"Alright.... if you're sure.."_

"Positive!!" Viktor chirped reassuringly, pausing his conversation when he felt a tap on his shoulder and turning to Chris with raised brows

" _Il y a eu un développement dont vous devriez être conscient, patron_ ,"

Oh great, more seemingly bad news...

" _Oui, je comprends, je serai avec toi dans un instant,_ "

That seemed to appease Chris long enough to allow Viktor to return back to the privacy of his conversation, atleast...

_"You speak French?"_

Oh thank god, a lighter topic to deal with

"Oui! I do! I speak eight languages actually, plus ASL,"

_"E-Eight?!"_

" _Da_! Let's see, I speak Russian, English, French, Kazakh, Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic, and German! I'm learning Japanese too so that'll soon be nine,"

_"W-Wow.... that's...... and I thought I was doing well just speaking Japanese and English fluently, with.. a little shaky Thai and some really blotchy Spanish..."_

"Yuri! That's still great!! Maybe after I learn Japanese I can go for Thai! That'd be an even ten! I also want to learn Latin, Gaelic, Italian-"

_"H-How do you even stand knowing so many?!"_

"Oh it's not that hard, I'm a language nerd so I really enjoy it! Same way some people are with technology or science or cars,"

_"Ah.... I'm... not good with any of those things either...."_

"That's ok, what _are_ you all nerdy about then? Everybody has something!"

_"W-Well.... ah..."_

_"Yuri!! Ikanaito!"_

_"H-Hai!"_

Ah, sounded like Phichit was calling him...

_"Sorry Viktor, I really need to get going, but we're still on for lunch, right?"_

"Always, Yuri,"

_"Then... dosvedanya, Viktor,"_

Viktor's lips twitched up, eyes practically sparkling

"Sayonara Yuri,"

The line went dead, and Viktor sighed softly before hanging up his end and putting the phone back in his pocket

"Viktor,"

Turning to Chris, Viktor forced a curious smile, inviting his freind to continue

"I have some unfortunate news.... it seems the alliance between JJ and the Crispinos has become official,"

Viktor closed his eyes, exhaling slowly and pinching his nose

"Great...."

Could this day get any worse..?

~+~

"Sorry I'm late, I had a meeting,"

"It's ok! I'm just happy to see you again,"

After the rotten morning, Viktor would do just about anything to get some time alone with Yuri now, and waiting an extra give minutes for lunch was hardly anything he considered to be an exception to that rule

"I'm happy to see you too Viktor," Yuri smiled sincerely, sliding into the booth in the cafe` and taking his gloves off, immediately bringing his hands up to his mouth to blow into his palms

"It's really freezing out there huh?" Viktor observed, unable to keep the amusement out of his voice as Yuri tried to warm himself up

"Yeah, it really is," Yuri sighed back

"I thought Hasetsu was cold in the winter but this is just ridiculous...."

"Oh, Japan gets cold too huh?"

"Mm, in my opinion, though I've met people who disagree, and I'm sure it's not nearly as bad as Russia,"

"Pft, _nowhere_ is as bad as Russia, save perhaps for Antarctica, but even that I have to question sometimes, that's one of the things I looked forward to so much about moving away, getting some warmer weather, but New York isn't too much better during the winter," Viktor noted with a laugh

"Oh well, I guess that's what central heating is for, we don't have that in Japan, I never really-"

Viktor, who had been mid-way through a sip of coffee, immediately choked

"You don't have central heating!? How do you survive in winter!?"

"Space heaters, portable heaters, kotatsu..."

"What's a... ko..tatsu...?"

"Ah... it's a small table, like a coffee table size? It has an enormous quilt or thick blanket or even a futon beneath it covering a space heater, you sit at it or even lay underneath it to stay warm,"

Viktor looked as pale as a ghost- it was actually pretty funny, but Yuri was trying consciously not to laugh

"And that works?" he asked skeptically

"Sure, I mean, I grew up with it, I actually have found central heating to get too hot for me sometimes, but to be fair I also grew up at an onsen so even when it was snowing outside there was alot of natural heat in and around our inn,"

"Ah... I would never have survived that...." Viktor mumbled quietly

"Aren't Russians supposed to be good with the cold?" Yuri pointed out teasingly

"Sure, I'm good with the cold, but no central heating in Russia? In _winter_? Sweetie, I don't think a polar bear could live through that!"

They both broke into a laugh, Yuri's a bit quieter and softer than Viktor's as the pakhan just gently slid his coffee towards his companion

"Here, please, take a sip of this to warm up hm? I don't see our waitress..."

Yuri stared down at the mug, making note of the fact that Viktor wasn't even paying attention to him at this point, too busy looking over the back of his seat in search of the waitress who had evidently vanished

Slowly, a bit hesitantly, he reached down and picked up the mug, taking a sip as his cheeks turned red

Ah... the coffee was sweet....

He wasn't sure why, but he had expected Viktor to like it more bitter...

"Mm, well, we can share until she comes back, if you're ok with that?"

"S-Sure," Yuri sputtered quickly, clearing his throat as he set the cup down

He knew that sharing food and drinks didn't have the same cultural context to westerners as it did to him, but it still made his heart race...

"Ah you should drink more of that, you look so flushed... are you not used to New York winters after three years?"

It didn't sound like a criticism, just a genuine question, hell it even sounded _concerned_

"I was ill prepared, the weather report said it would be fifty degrees by this late in the day but it's still in the low forties,"

"Mmm, damn weather reports," Viktor winked playfully

~~Great, as if Yuri needed another reason to blush~~

"Well, I hate to interrupt this pleasant conversation with bad news but unfortunately it can't be helped," Viktor sighed a second later, his expression grim

"JJ has officially joined with the Crispinos,"

"Well that was only a matter of time," Yuri mused sourly as he took another sip of his coffee

"Yes but I had really been hoping that things would fall through," Viktor pouted, resting his cheek on his palm

"Me too, but I can't say I'm surprised, he and Michele have been freinds since he first moved here, to my understanding,"

"Really? Then I wonder what took them so long to form an official alliance...."

"Maybe it was just a difference between personal and political opinions? They liked eachother personally but had vastly different ideas on how they wanted to run their businesses? Different politics, maybe?"

"Perhaps.... you could be right,"

"I just hope that whatever the reason, they aren't planning anything that will affect us too terribly, we really have enough going on as it is," Yuri mused with a tired sigh

"Right... about that, any head way yet on that murder from this morning?"

"I'm afraid not, only that we now know for an absolute fact that it was committed by the same person we suspected,"

"Cotton Mather,"

"Or more likely someone he hired,"

"Yes, more likely that," Viktor sighed

Yuri's lips twitched slightly, feeling kind of.... warm-hearted by the fact that Viktor seemed so personally invested in a problem that wasn't really his own

"I have my people digging Yuri, don't worry," he said firmly, reaching across the table and gently taking Yuri's hand, squeezing slightly

"I won't let them get away with this shit,"

"Thank you Viktor, I appreciate that," Yuri promised with a sincere smile

He could feel warmth beginning to seep back into him, Viktor's hands around his own creating a perfect shell of heat, protecting his soft skin from the cold

He couldn't help thinking to himself, as the waitress finally came by, just how much it resembled their relationship

Viktor providing him with warmth, even on the coldest of days

~+~

Yuri considered himself to be a fairly busy person

He wasn't nearly as busy as some, granted, but it wasn't as though he often had free time to himself when nothing and no one required his attention

Even tonight his rare "free" time was going to be occupied by going over lists of different enemy mobs and searching into their histories to determine if they were likely to be working with witch hunters or not

A tedious process but one that would be eased considerably by pizza and watching _Rose Red_

Despite being one of his favorites, he so rarely had the opportunity to watch it due to how long it was, making tonight rather perfect for the occasion

So here he sat, at seven o'clock, with the DVD in the player and the pizza on the way, on the floor of his living room with different pappers piled neatly on the table, color-coded highlights at his side and coffee opposite them, totally prepared for a boring night

**Blossom Family**

No go there, the Blossoms were also witches, allies even, and thank the gods for that, he would never want to go up against Cheryl Blossom and her coven....

Green highlighter- clear

**Cho Organization**

This one he wasn't very familiar with, he'd have to start with them then

Yellow highlighter- uncertain

**Columbus Division**

Before he could even finish reading the words, the sound of his doorbell went off

Eyebrows raising curiously, he stood up and reached under the couch, grabbing his gun and keeping it held behind his back, his finger next to the trigger just in case as he moved slowly towards the door, peering out the window and sighing in releif as he shifted his gun into the back of his pants, opening the door immediately and smiling gently at his kobun

"Guang Hong, it's nice to see you, and Mei Shi right? So cute," he cooed immediately, holding his hands out immediately for the baby

"I'm really glad you think so Yuri," Guang Hong smiled with releif, handing the baby over to Yuri... and then starting to twist his fingers around the diaper bag over his shoulder

....

And that really couldn't be good

"What do you need?" Yuri asked with measured hesitation, turning the shorter man a light shade of pink

"O-Oh um.... well...... you see my sister asked me to babysit her tonight and that was completely fine until I got this call from Li Jun Fang with the Red Dragon triad, he wants to meet tonight,"

"Li Jun... we've been trying to get in with him for months..." Yuri mused quietly to himself, shifting a little to better balance the baby on his hip

"Exactly, you know how hard he is to get a meeting with and I think this could be the night we get an alliance, I think he's wanting to go on and seal the deal, now that the Crispinos have an ally,"

"Right, the Red Dragons are still a big player but much smaller than Crispino, JJ, Viktor, and ourselves... and now that the four of us have paired off-"

"He's going to want a peice so that his triad doesn't get taken down, rather allied than destroyed,"

"Exactly," Yuri agreed, lips quirking up a little as Mei Shi reached up to grab at his glasses

"I'm glad you agree.... because I can't possibly get a sitter so late, he wants to meet in an hour, and-"

"Go," Yuri instructed with a gentle smile, gently pulling his glasses back into place and giving the baby his other hand for her to grab at and play with

"A-Are you sure?"

"Positive, go ahead, seal this deal Ji, and I'll consider that my babysitting fee," he teased playfully

Not that Yuri would ever mind babysitting- he _loved_ kids, no matter how exhausted he was or how much he had wanted to have the night to himself to get some work done, he wouldn't have turned Guang Hong down anyway, but especially with something this valuable at stake

Guang Hong had been their liaison with the triad for almost a year, having been the one to suggest an alliance in the first place after he and one of the less prominent members of the triad met off-business and he had been slowly wearing them down ever since

Obviously, he was really the only one who could broker the deal now

"Thank you, really! I'll have to be sure to bring you a gift in return!" he said excitedly as he unloaded the diaper bag onto Yuri's shoulder

"O-Oh you... really don't have to-"

"But I want to," he insisted with a bright grin

"Listen, everything is pretty straight forward, but she has a small ear infection so make sure to give her drops at exactly eight o'clock ok? Instructions are on the bottle, and she's usually pretty quiet but if you can't get her to stop crying then play Hedwig's theme from Harry Potter, I don't know why but it always works, it just kinda mystifies her I guess, but you'll have to play a lullaby after to get her to sleep again,"

"Ok," Yuri nodded along as he shifted again, trying to balance the bag over one shoulder as he moved to support the baby in both arms now

"I can do that,"

"Great, and she's pretty used to dogs too so she shouldn't have a problem with Vicchan if he comes around,"

"Ah, thank goodness," Yuri smiled with releif

The old poodle was upstairs sleeping for now, a baby gate keeping him from coming downstairs on his own to keep him from darting outside past Yuri's feet, but Yuri was sure he was awake now and would feel bad leaving him upstairs alone like that if he was

"Anyway, I'll make sure I leave my tracker on and will send out a dove if there's trouble,"

Yuri nodded tensely, the very mention of sending doves putting him on edge

It was his coven's way of sending a distress signal

They weren't _real_ doves, they were just crafted out of pure energy, sent more like a spell than a living creature, appearing to every coven member within range

Yuri had gotten doves before....

They were never sent as a mere _precaution_

"I'll be back for her later, promise, thank you again Yuri," Guang Hong smiled, bowing politely before rushing to the car

"N-No problem," Yuri smiled back awkwardly, waving as Mei Shi wrapped her little hand around his glasses and finally gave them a firm tug off of his face

He just hoped her uncle kept his word about coming back...

~+~

Yuri felt guilty eating pizza in front of a baby

She couldn't have any

She kept staring at the pepperoni like it held the secrets of the universe

It was bad enough eating it in front of Vicchan, who was equally desperate, but the baby....

"I'm two minutes away from eating this in the kitchen..." he muttered, more to himself than to the baby

With a frustrated sigh, he shoved a bigger bite than explicitly intended into his mouth, nose wrinkling as a small pile of cheese fell off and landed on his chest, leaving an ugly red stain on the formerly nice "Talk Nerdy To Me" shirt he was wearing

Sighing, he set his pizza down, wiped his hands on a napkin, and went about trying to clean the stain, absently glancing at the clock and making note of the fact that he would need to give Mei Shi her eardrops in the next fifteen minutes

Figuring now was a good time to read the instructions in case he needed to heat them up or something, he fished the little bottle out of the diaper bag and stared down at the instructions

.....

The _Chinese_ instructions

....................................

_Why the hell were they written in Chinese!??!_

"Oh for..."

Irritated, he yanked off his shirt, then picked up the baby from the bassinet he had summoned for her, balancing her carefully on his hip as he headed upstairs

"Pick up... pick up..."

_Hi, you've reached Guang Hong Ji, please-_

"Dammit Guang Hong!!"

He must have turned off his phone...

"Shit...."

Yuri had no idea how to Google translate this crap without even having a Chinese keyboard- hell, he couldn't even understand the charectors well enough, and they were so tiny that he could barely even read them!

He didn't have time to learn either, since she needed her drops soon, and magic would be of no help, translation magic was notoriously difficult to perform and required time and patience

Yuri had neither at the moment

Just as he was about to put his phone away, his thumb slipped and he gleamed Viktor's name, the realization suddenly slamming into him that he may not be sunk quite yet after all

 _Hey, can I trouble you for a favor?_ he typed out, sliding his phone in his pocket and lifting Mei Shi up a little higher, holding her with both arms around her now, pressed up against his bare chest as he headed to the bedroom to get a shirt

Apparently Mei Shi thought this was a capital place to be, as she eagerly reached up and fisted her little hand in his hair, giving a sharp tug- for probably the fourth time just in the last forty five minutes

"Ow! S-Sweetheart please, _please_ leave Uncle Yuri's hair alone..." he said softly, gently uncurling her little fist from his hair as his phone buzzed, a new text message arriving

Deciding to balance her on his hip again, he reached into his pocket and yanked his phone out

_Never any trouble <3 What can I do for you Yuri? :3_

Ah... Viktor was such a sweetheart...

_Can you translate something from Mandarin for me?_

Just as he was walking into the bedroom for a shirt, Mei Shi started to wimper, pawing at his chest desperately

"What is it? What's wrong sweetheart?"

Ah... the warm dampness suddenly hitting his arm told him exactly what was wrong...

Sighing heavily, he set the phone on the dresser and hurried downstairs to change her diaper

It wasn't until he came back up ten minutes later for the phone that he saw the message Viktor had left

_Sure!! I'll be right there!! <3_

"No!!" Yuri shreiked, Mei Shi- now dry as a nice summer day- craddled in one arm as he hurriedly texted Viktor back

_Wait, you don't have to come over!_

_I can take a picture!_

_...You're already driving, aren't you Viktor?_

"Oow!"

Mei Shi Ji: Professional Hair Yanker

"I'm slicking this back before you can do that again..." he mumbled with a sigh

The shirt would have to wait, he wouldn't have any hair left by the time the baby was done with him otherwise

~+~

Viktor wasn't sure what Yuri had needed him to translate, but it didn't matter

He realized he _probably_ hadn't needed to come over, but he didn't care

He knew he was going overboard, but he just wanted to see Yuri so badly that he gave himself permission to be just a teeny tiny bit crazy for him

So, now that he was at the door, he was almost bouncing with excitement

In total fairness, it wasn't like Viktor had been _completely_ disrupted from his evening, he had just been getting ready to leave his meeting with Chris about the restaurant they had purchased hours previously so the timing worked out superbly well

He took a breath, ringing the doorbell and swiping his fingers through his hair for a quick and casual tousle, before straightening out his cufflinks, like he really needed to dress to impress

When the door opened however, he felt scandalously _over_ dressed.... among other things....

Viktor's breath caught in his throat, his eyes wide and his face bright red as he stared at the gorgeous creature in front of him, mouth completely dry

Yuri stood before him, in a pair of black sweatpants with "HUFFLEPUFF" written down the side of one leg riding low on his hips, a light blue v-neck that was a size too small hugged his chest and made his muscles look significantly more prominent, and it was thin enough that Viktor could almost see his nipples beneath the cute "I'm otterly too tired" print scripted across the fabric, the baby otter underneath the text rose and fell with his breathing as the shirt rode up a little, his hair was slicked back too, and instead of the significantly more thin-framed glasses that he had worn in all of their previous meetings, the ones he sported now were wide-framed and thick, making his beautifull brown eyes stand out even more than usual

....

And he was holding a baby

..............

_AND HE WAS **HOLDING** a **BABY**_

.......

Yep, Viktor was suffocating

"Viktor...? Are you ok?"

Snapping himself out of it, he realized with embarrassment that he had been staring far too much

"Y-Yes!! I just... uh... cute baby!! Who does she belong to?" he chirpped, stepping closer and watching with delight as the baby's face crinkled up with a giggle

"My kobun's neice, he had a meeting so I'm babysitting," Yuri explained, stepping back to let Viktor into the house

"I hope you know you didn't need to come over, I tried to text you-"

"It's really ok! I was just around the corner, and I'm glad I came, there's a little cutie I wouldn't have gotten to meet otherwise~" he hummed as he put his fingers in his mouth and made a silly face at he baby- who just giggled and laughed even more

Ah, a happy baby!! How grand!!

"And what's our little cutie's name hm?"

"Mei Shi, she's actually why I called you here, she has to have ear drops but the instructions on the bottle are written in Mandarin- atleast I _think_ it's Mandarin... anyway, could you translate?"

"Ofcourse!" Viktor beamed adoringly as he headed into the living room, spying the box of pizza and the horror movie playing aimlessly on the TV

....

Yuri looked like an _awesome_ date

"Mm are these the culprit?" he asked, picking up the little bottle on the coffee table and earning a nod from Yuri

He held the bottle up to the light, squinting a little at the text and falling quiet for a few moments as he worked on translating the scrunched up charectors on the label

"Mm.... it says five drops in each ear twice a day,"

"Got it, does it say anything about warming them up?"

"Mmm... no.... but from my own experience I would suggest you do that, heat some water- _heat_ , not _boil_ \- and dip the bottle into it for a few moments, possibly in a plastic bag so the label doesn't get damaged,"

"Good call... thanks Viktor, you're a life saver," Yuri breathed in clear releif

"O-Oh no no, it's really no big deal," Viktor promised quickly, shaking his head, much to Yuri's mild amusement

"Do you want to stick around and have some pizza? It's the least I can offer for your help,"

"Well you don't need to offer me anything but... yes, pizza sounds lovely," he promised with a gentle smile, following Yuri like a lovestruck puppy as he headed into the kitchen

So what if the pizza was in the living room?

Maybe Yuri would need help with the eardrops

...Maybe Viktor just needed an excuse to be closer to Yuri....

~+~

"I like your shirt by the way,"

Yuri blinked, a little surprised by that as he glanced down at what he was wearing, face turning a light shade of pink as he took note of the tight v-neck wrapped around his torso

"Um, thanks, it.... was actually my sister's shirt but it was a bit small for her so she gave it to me instead... I keep it for sentimental value but I know it's too small, I just was trying to get a shirt on before you came over because I dropped pizza on the last one and-"

"Yuri, it's ok," Viktor laughed with amusement, eyes crinkling joyfully

"I said I liked it didn't I?"

Hm, point

Viktor exhaled softly, a warm smile on his face as he looked over at the bassinette where Mei Shi was sleeping

"She's so amazing... babies are so amazing..."

"Yeah?" Yuri smiled back, sipping his grape soda as he focused his own gaze on Viktor and his lovestruck expression

"I take it you want kids then?"

"Oh yeah definitely!! I mean I know that's an unpopular opinion for someone like me to have, one of the rules of the bratva, in fact, is that you put them before your own family, but I can't help it, I've always wanted kids of my own,"

"Me too," Yuri smiled softly, his expression warm and gentle, leaning back against the couch behind them and staring at Viktor, head tilting

"Yakuza are like that too, well.... my clan is one of the few that isn't but..."

"But your clan seems to be different with just about everything hm?"

"A little bit," Yuri agreed with a slight laugh

"A little bit," Viktor repeated teasingly

Viktor had been over for around three hours now, they had taken care of Mei Shi's eardrops and had some pizza, watched more of Rose Red and ate more pizza, and now they were just.... talking

Just talking about anything and everything and nothing all at once, the end of the moving finally playing out in the background, neither paying attention

"Do you want to be married to someone or do you want to just have kids on your own?" Yuri asked curiously

"Oh, married, if possible, I don't feel very confident about raising kids myself, and even if I did... I want a partner, I want someone who I can be in love with, someone I can give all of myself to and take all of in return, I want to _be_ with someone,"

Yuri nodded slowly, in total understanding of this as he rested his head on his palm

"I get it, I absolutely understand,"

"And you? Marriage? Kids?"

"Both," Yuri smiled back fondly, dragging his fingers through his slicked hair and sighing softly as a few strands fell against his forehead

"I'm twenty-three though, maybe it's crazy but I kind of worry that it'll never happen,"

"What, at twenty-three? You're right, that IS crazy," Viktor laughed, shaking his head and reaching for his soda

"I guess it's just... my parents were young like this when they had me so I suppose I'm anxious..."

"Well, you shouldn't be, you're incredibly young, and each generation just exceeds in longevity, you have plenty of time,"

"I guess you're right," he smiled back shyly, face still tinged pink as Viktor suddenly snapped his fingers, grinning from ear to ear

"Ah, before I forget, I wanted to show you a picture of Makkachin I took yesterday, I was going to at lunch but alas, I forgot,"

"Oh, I'm always up for baby pictures," Yuri beamed, peering over Viktor's shoulder as he scrolled through his phone

"I know, you're the person I know who adores them as much as I do, so I knew you'd appreciate seeing them," he winked back playfully, flipping through photos until he came to the pictures of Makkachin that he wanted, earning a delighted "Awwww" from Yuri

"How did you get those sunglasses to stay on her?"

"Actually it wasn't that hard, Makka is quite good about that sort of thing,"

"I wish I could say the same about Vicchan, but he wouldn't wear clothes to save his life- trust me, I've tried,"

Viktor laughed cheerfully, shaking his head

"Well you're more than welcome to come over and dress up Makka to your heart's desire,"

"Really?" Yuri asked softly, warmth sinking into his expression

"Ofcourse, you're... you're always welcome at my house, Yuri, whenever, for whatever reason,"

Viktor's cheeks were tinted pink, and Yuri could feel his heart starting to flutter as they just.... went quiet

Both at once, falling into silence, their faces only a few inches apart

Yuri started to press forward, just a little, just enough, but was soon interrupted by the little Toy Poodle who jumped onto the couch and stepped between them

"A-Ah... I guess Vicchan got tired of sleeping by the bassinet..."

"He must have heard you cooing over Makka and gotten jealous," Viktor noted, rolling his eyes and gently scratching the pup behind the ears as the poodle started licking his face

Viktor wasn't exactly happy that his chance to kiss Yuri had just been shot thanks to a dog, but he couldn't be too angry at something so cute either

"Ah... Yuri, the movie is over," he mused as he tilted his head back to look at the TV screen

Neither of them had been paying attention really, but he was starting to notice the constant repetition of "A Summer Place" stopping and starting in the same places...

"Oh, um, did you want to watch something?" Yuri offered, sliding off of the couch and heading over to the DVD player

"Sure! What did you have in mind?"

"Anything you want, I'm... kind of a film nerd so I have alot... although by 'film nerd' I really mean 'film _junkie_ ' I guess, I'd take a two dollar shitty horror movie over Oscar bait any day,"

"Oh my god _same_! Although if I'm being totally honest I feel that way more about fantasy, horror.... I must confess I'm a little bit of a scaredy cat, I can still watch them, I just.... usually need someone to hold my hand," he noted with a small smirk

"Is that so?"

"Yeah, so.... I'd totally be up for watching some horror if you want,"

If thought he was being subtle- he wasn't

.............

Unfortunately for him, Yuri was pretty dense when it came to flirting and romantic suggestions

"I'll definitely have to take you up on that sometime.... but to be honest, I felt kind of guilty just watching Rose Red with Mei Shi in the room, and that one is pretty tame,"

 _Tame_?!

Now Viktor was glad Yuri had turned him down

He hadn't seen much of the movie but it had looked _terrifying_ to him personally, and he wondered anxiously what Yuri considered to be truly scary...

"I don't know how Na Ling wants to raise her, you know? And I wouldn't want to introduce her to scary things- intentionally or not- without her mom's permission,"

"Makes perfect sense," Viktor nodded in agreement, smiling as Vicchan settled down next to him and flopped over in the hopes of getting a belly rub

"I have plenty of fantasy though," Yuri added a beat later as he opened the cabinet beneath the TV

"Oh Yuri, really, don't worry about going out of your way for me, I like plenty of genres! Action, thriller, mystery, animation, some comedy-"

"Animation?" Yuri grinned, eyes lighting up

"Sure, I love animation!"

"Then I definitely have a treat for you," Yuri smirked, reaching into the cabinet and letting his fingertips glow a soft blue

Having an infinity cabinet and the ability to change out what was and wasn't present in the actual _visible_ portion of it with only a brush of his fingertips certainly made storage easy

"So um... you're into fantasy huh? What is it that you like so much about it?"

Yuri was into it too, but he was willing to bet his reasons were different from Viktor's, what with the species difference and all

"Oh all sorts of things!!! I love magic, I love the worldbuilding, the adventure, the sheer _broadness_ of the genre and what you can do with it, and... honestly, I kind of like to believe that there's more out there than just what we humans can see, you know? I love urban fantasy in particular for that reason, there's just something strangely comforting to think that the universe is so much bigger than just.... _this_ ,"

Yuri was quiet for a moment, fingertips resting on the edges of a few DVD cases

"Is.... that so?"

"Yeah, I know it probably sounds crazy but.... well, I want to believe, I guess,"

Yuri smiled softly, his face tinged pink as he turned back to the movies under his fingertips

It didn't... mean anything

Just because Viktor liked the _idea_ of witches and werewolves and things that go bump in the night existing out there, it didn't mean that he would actually.... be ok with it if he ever found out the truth....

But......

Yuri couldn't help but _hope_

"Ok Mulder," he said after a moment, smiling and glancing back over his shoulder

"Ever hear of Studio Ghibli?"

~+~

Sometime after Kiki's Delivery Service ended, Viktor fell asleep

He wasn't even totally sure what they had started watching next, he didn't make it very far

But it was just so _easy_ to relax there with Yuri

With Yuri by his side and Vicchan sleeping in his lap and Mei Shi asleep in the bassinet beside them....

It just felt so _right_ , how could Viktor feel anything but incredible?

And so he slept, feeling more comfortable on a couch with his suit on pressed between the back of the leather and Yuri's side, than he could ever remember feeling in his bed- in _any_ bed

It's too bad that comfort was disturbed after a couple of hours

When Viktor woke, it was to the sound of the dog barking up a storm, the baby crying, and the door being kicked in, followed by screaming

Before he could register what was happening, his eyes fluttering open and forcing himself to attempt sitting up, Yuri had- at some point- grabbed a fucking _gun_ and rolled on top of him, one hand shoving Viktor's shoulder down, the other wrapped around the handgun as he aimed over the arm of the couch, around the corner where the hallway was, no doubt aiming at whoever had kicked the door in

....

And now really wasn't the time to notice it, but with the way Yuri was straddling him...

Viktor's line of sight and the center of Yuri's jeans were kind of perfectly aligned..... and his thighs- those gorgeous, thick thighs, were so damn close to his _face_.....

Red faced, he couldn't help making this observation

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!" Yuri bellowed, his voice low and loud as Vicchan and Mei Shi continued to bark and scream

_"Where's Viktor!? What have you done with him!?"_

...................

Oh for fuck's sake, Viktor recognized that voice

"Yura! I'm right here! Did you cause all this!??"

Viktor couldn't see what was going on at the moment, but he was willing to guess that the confirmation of his status as "alive" had probably ceased alot of the tension in the room

"Viktor!? What the hell are you doing?! You haven't answered your phone for three hours you douchebag! We thought you'd been fucking murdered!!"

Slowly, Yuri put his weapon down, shoving it into the side of his pants, against his hip, one hand still locked protectively over Viktor's shoulder- though Viktor had a feeling it wasn't done consciously- and still, for the most part, straddling him, as Yura and Otabek popped around the corner and observed the two

"I'm _fine_ , we were _busy_ ," the pakhan snipped irritably

There was a breif pause, before Otabek, helpfull as ever, gave a quiet _"Oh..."_ , then cleared his throat and started tugging on Yura's arm

"C-Come on Yura, we should... we should really go..."

"Eh!? Why!? We just got here and Viktor owes us an explanation! What have you been doing for three hours anyway!?"

"I don't think you really want him to answer that question Yura," Otabek said quickly and quietly

It seemed like _that_ , out of everything, finally pryed Yuri out of Defense Mode and caused him to realize what position they were in, his own face turning as red as a cherry as he practically screamed and flung himself away from Viktor

.........

Boy, Viktor could have killed Otabek and Yura for that

"N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-N-NO!!!! I-I-I-I-It wasn't what it looked like!" he shreiked as he stumbled around, shaking his head quickly and waving his hands dramatically

"W-W-We just fell asleep!!! Vik-Viktor came over to help me with something and then we fell asleep watching movies!! That's ALL!!!"

Slowly, Viktor sat up, glaring so hard he swore his eyes hurt as he turned towards the intruders

".....Well hello there Beka, Yura, thank you so _much_ for interrupting my evening," he said sarcastically, tone as flat as a pancake

"I-I'm gonna go um... t-take care of... of getting Mei Shi calmed down a-a-and get Vicchan upstairs before he runs outside," Yuri said quickly, wasting little time before scooping up the baby and then hurrying into the hall to grab the dog too, thus leaving Viktor alone with his mob-mates

"....Soooo...... I guess you _weren't_ getting brutally murdered...." Yura said slowly

"No. Shit." Viktor huffed back, standing up with a frustrated sigh and running his fingers through his hair

"I appreciate the fact that you were both concerned- _really_ , I do, but did you even _consider_ ringing the damn doorbell!? Yuri is our _ally_ , stop treating him like an enemy,"

"We're sorry for overreacting," Otabek said a bit guiltily, rubbing the back of his neck

"We were just.... concerned,"

"And I appreciate that, truly, thank you for coming to check on me, just... in the future, nock first?"

Otabek nodded, Yura seemed less convinced ~~and more embarrassed~~

"We'll do that," Otabek promised with a firm nod

"Good, and I _do_ hope you're going to be fixing that door you just broke? At the very least, paying for it?"

Another nod from Otabek, still nothing but a tense frown from Yura

Oh well...

"We'll um... leave you guys to it then," Otabek added, clearing his throat and giving Yura a gentle tug on the arm, urging him to go

But Yuri Plisetsky would not go quietly into that good night

"Is Katsuki going to be our new daddy?" he asked with a defiant smirk

Unfortunately for him, Viktor was more than prepared for the blonde's attitude than Yura realized

"Don't know yet, but I hope to god he's going to be _my_ new daddy,"

It was a good thing Otabek hadn't been drinking anything at the moment- he would have choked on it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations in order:
> 
> -"Human alert!"  
> -"Are you ok? I'm sure this is exactly how you wanted to spend your morning,"  
> -"Y-Yes, I'm fine, thank you for asking though,"  
> -"There's been a development that you should be aware of, boss,"  
> -"Yes, I understand, I'll be with you in a moment,"  
> -"Yuri, we have to go!"  
> -"Y-Yes!"


	5. Life Is Not A Song, But We'll Dance To It Anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs:
> 
> -"Havana" by Camilla Cabello  
> -"I'm A Believer" by The Monkees  
> -"Cool Cat" by Queen

It wasn't long after that that Guang Hong finally returned to take Mei Shi home, having explained that the meeting with the Red Dragons had gone well- well enough, specifically, that he had gone out for drinks with Li Jun after the meeting- virgin drinks on Guang Hong's part- and then met up with Leo when the werewolf came to check on him

Things had run late, needless to say

But the pair had been wide awake and high on excitement and adrenaline so Yuri had felt pretty comfortable with them driving off with the baby in the middle of the night

Viktor, on the other hand...

"Sorry again about your door Yuri,"

"I-It's really no problem, like I said, it wasn't actually busted that badly, nothing I couldn't fix with a hammer and a screwdriver,"

And magic, more specifically

But by the grace of god Viktor didn't know anything about tools or building things and hadn't suspected anything when Yuri took a hammer and a screwdriver and tapped around aimlessly on the door as he reconnected it with magic

"Mmm still... I guess next time I stay so long I'll have to check in with some people..." he mused, yawning a little as he moved towards the door

"I suppose.. but Viktor.. I don't think you should drive home this late, it's almost four in the morning and you seem tired," Yuri pointed out, crossing his arms over his chest

"Mm, I'll be fine Yuri, I'm sure,"

Yuri was not convinced

With a slightly tense frown, Yuri placed his hand on the door, a stern expression on his face

"I really don't think you should drive at this time of night,"

Viktor blinked, turning a bit pink at the sternness of Yuri's voice

"A-Ah... um-"

"Stay here," Yuri interrupted suddenly, realizing that perhaps he hadn't been clear enough before

"I-... what...?"

"Stay here for the night," Yuri repeated, his face a bit pink as well

"I mean.. I think it would be safer if... if you stayed?"

Viktor's expression warmed, eyes practically sparkling as he reached out and took Yuri's hand

"I'd love to,"

Yuri's expression lit up, his fingers curling a little more tightly around Viktor's hand as he wordlessly guided the pakhan towards the stairs, guiding him up as Vicchan raced ahead of them

"It's just at the end of the hall here," he noted, pushing the baby gate open and watching with amusement as Vicchan slipped past him and scurried down the hall

"It's on the-.. oh Vicchan are you out of water already?"

Distracted, he let go of Viktor's hand for the moment, mumbling a quick apology to his freind as he headed into the bathroom at the end of the hall to refill Vicchan's water bowl

Viktor, in the mean time, took it upon himself to head into the room on the left, grinning from ear to ear the second he spotted the bed and flopping down on it with a happy shudder

It felt so damn _good_....

The sheets were cool but he knew they would warm up with a little body heat added to them, the mattress was soft and the pillows....

He grabbed one, burying his face in it and inhaling

They smelled like Yuri...

Granted Viktor didn't really go around sniffing Yuri or anything so he supposed he could be wrong about that but he had gotten just the slightest hit of the yakuza's shampoo before- like a mango and papaya type of scent, and these pillows...

"Actually... this is _my_ bedroom, the guest room is the one on the right,"

Sitting up, face red, Viktor turned his attention to Yuri, his heart pounding with embarrassment as Yuri stepped into the room and turned on the light- dimly, Viktor noted with pleasant surprise that the light was on a dimmer switch

"O-Oh, I'm sorry, I ju-"

"It's ok, really," Yuri promised with a smile, sucking breifly on his lower lip as he took a step closer

"You can stay if you... really like it that much,"

"O-Oh no, I'd never take your room from you! Tha-"

"Oh I didn't offer to let you have my room," Yuri corrected, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, his expression far more shy than it had been initially

"I um.... was actually offering.... if... if you wanted to... _share_ the-"

"Yes!!"

Clearly, Viktor's enthusiastic response startled the yakuza, but Yuri supposed he was just thankfull that the response had been positive and not one of disgust or hesitation

It was a risk inviting Viktor to sleep in his bed, too strong a chance of Viktor rejecting him and their relationship being ruined, but it seemed to have somehow worked out for the best

"G-Great! Then I can lend you some pajamas? I have some kobun your size, I keep clothes on hand for them, just in case, you shouldn't sleep in your suit so..."

"O-Oh um, sure? That's so sweet of you Yuri, thank you,"

"Don't mention it," Yuri smiled back shyly, heading to the closet and starting to sift around for spare pajamas

"So do you have plans first thing in the morning? If not then perhaps we can have breakfast or something?"

"That sounds lovely," Yuri confirmed, grabbing a pair of pajamas for Viktor and setting them on the edge of the bed before slipping back into the closet to change into his own

"I'll have to meet with Guang Hong at some point tommorrow to discuss the fuller details of our new alliance with the Red Dragons, I'll have to head to the inn sometime tommorrow afternoon and then after lunch I have a meeting with a Polish group-... or... well.... the leader is Polish..."

"You're always so busy Yuri, do you ever breathe?"

Viktor was clearly _trying_ to sound like he was just playfully teasing, but Yuri could hear the concern in his voice

"It's... not always like this," Yuri explained, stepping out of the closet, now changed into his pajamas

Viktor himself wasn't even half-way there, only having just gotten his button-up off, causing Yuri to reach out for the closet door again

"Ah, you don't have to run away you know," Viktor chuckled as he started to undo his belt

"I don't mind if you happen to catch a glimpse or two,"

By now, Yuri's face was dark, cherry red, heart racing as he forced himself to lower his hand and awkwardly sit on the edge of the bed

"You were saying? It isn't usually like this?" Viktor encouraged, trying to return them to the conversation from before

"R-Right, it... it isn't... I mean it isn't like I'm ever _not_ busy, but the sheer hecticness of all this.... well, the Cotton Mather shit started right after I met you, right before, actually,"

"Ah.... so things will calm for you then, when that's taken care of?"

"They should,"

"Even more of a reason to end that problem quickly in my opinion," Viktor winked playfully, pulling a slight smile over Yuri's face as the pakhan pulled his pajamas on, crashing into bed across from Yuri and offering him a warm smile in return

"So I'll be less busy?"

"Ofcourse, the less time you have to give to other people, the more I get to keep for myself," Viktor teased

"I think you're a little sleep-drunk," Yuri pointed out, reaching out to gently poke Viktor's nose, earning a laugh from the other man

" _Yerunda_ , I'm perfectly awake,"

"Oh are you?"

"I am,"

Ofcourse, Viktor said that with a yawn, so Yuri wasn't exactly liable to believe him

"Sure you are," Yuri chuckled, sitting up and moving to slip off of the bed so he could go turn the light off and they could both get some sleep

Things didn't quite work out that way though, as Viktor grabbed onto his wrist to keep him in place, a confused look taking over Yuri's face as he turned towards his companion

"Viktor...?"

Viktor wasn't looking at him, but he still had hold of Yuri's hand

"Please don't go..." he said quietly, his fingers tightening a little around Yuri's hand

"What..? I'm not-"

"Just stay, please? I'll be good, I promise, I'll behave, I don't-...... if I made you uncomfortable-"

"Wah-! No!!! No no no, I was just going to turn the light off!"

Viktor perked a little, lifting his head up and staring shyly up at Yuri's face

"...Really?"

"Really," Yuri frowned seriously, shifting and moving to sit back on the bed next to Viktor, reaching up to gently press the ack of his palm to Viktor's forehead, wondering breifly if Viktor might be coming down with a fever

"...Sorry, I just... I didn't know if my flirting was making you uncomfortable or-"

"Wait a minute, you were flirting?!?"

Eyebrows raised, Viktor glanced up at Yuri, expression slightly skeptical of his question's sincerity but otherwise blank

"...Have been for the past month and a half but thanks for noticing,"

"You've been flirting all this time!?"

"Am I _that_ bad at it?"

"N-N-No!! No you're very good!!" Yuri insisted quickly, moving a little closer

"It's just... I... I guess some part of me knew you were but.... I guess it's just hard for me to understand why you would... _want_ to... to flirt with _me_... I-I've been flirting with you!! It's just... I guess I'm not.... I wasn't... really sure that you were _reciprocating_..."

Viktor wondered breifly how in the name of _any_ spiritual deity they had gotten through the very first meeting without Yuri knowing for a FACT that he was flirting, but he supposed if Yuri was just this dense to come-ons....

"..........You really have quite the low self-esteem, don't you?"

"All my life," Yuri replied with a small shrug

"Needlessly," Viktor frowned, reaching up with his free hand and gently dragging his fingers against Yuri's face, his thumb moving over Yuri's bottom lip slowly

"You're an amazing person, I hope you know that,"

"Viktor, you...... you _really_ need to get some sleep," Yuri smiled softly, his expression warm as he leaned in closer, wrapping his hand around Viktor's

He could use magic to turn the light off he supposed, he could just lie and say that there was another light switch on the wall behind them or something

Sure, he had been trying to avoid that, but like hell if he was going to get up at this moment, when Viktor was being so soft and snuggly, it would be like some sort of crime against humanity to do that

"Yeah, maybe," Viktor relented with a soft sigh as Yuri shifted a little to lay down beside him, the lights turning out with a simple movement of his fingers- Viktor, who _definitely_ needed some sleep- hadn't even noticed

"But it doesn't change the fact that what I was telling you was completely true, you're an amazing person Yuri, I'm sorry your brain lies and tries to tell you that you aren't but that just simply isn't true, you're incredible and I _adore_ you, I... I want so badly to just spend time with you, just to be _near_ you, maybe I'm too tired to have a filter anymore but that doesn't make anything I'm saying less true,"

Yuri's heart practically _ached_ at that, made only more intense when Viktor suddenly shifted and wrapped his arms around Yuri, pulling him close to cuddle with him

Yuri definitely wasn't complaining

"You believe me, don't you?" Viktor asked after a moment, voice growing more quiet and slurred as he grew closer and closer to sleep

"...Ofcourse I believe you Viktor," Yuri promised softly, letting his eyes fall closed as he felt Viktor finally fall completely slack in his arms

"I'll always believe you..."

~+~

When Viktor woke up the next morning, he felt... a little terrible actually

His body was stiff and sore, a clear sign that he'd been sleeping in an unfortunate position all night, and his mouth was so dry that his throat was almost hurting from it

He must have been sleeping with his mouth open...

_Great_

He was about to move, until he noticed something heavy laying on his arm

Eyes cracking open, he was immediately met with a familiar nest of raven black hair, and the night before came slamming back into him like a bull running into a matador

He was sleeping with Yuri

_He was sleeping with Yuri Katsuki in his arms_

Christmas had come early

Heart racing with joy, he closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, delighted by the soft perfume of Yuri's shampoo mixed with the sharpness of winter rain, what he assumed to be Yuri's natural scent

He could stay like this all day

He didn't care that he was uncomfortable or that his arm was going numb or that his throat was scratchy and he desperately craved some water to get rid of that awfull feeling

He was _not_ going to ruin this moment

Yuri seemed to be sleeping peacefully, his head resting on Viktor's arm and his body curled in tightly to himself, a contrast to the more splayed out, "I can take up an entire bed all by myself" form that Viktor often found himself waking up in

Though, this time Viktor's sleeping habits seemed to mirror Yuri's a great deal more, with one arm slung over Yuri's side keeping their bodies pressed close together, preventing Viktor from spreading out like he usually would

He didn't mind actually, despite how much his body currently ached

He could spend the rest of his life in this moment, watching Yuri sleep peacefully, staring at the calm, relaxed look on his face

Yuri always had so much going on, he was always so busy, so many people needed him and damn near _demanded_ his time, it wasn't fair to him, he deserved to sleep peacefully, and Viktor would rather die than disturb him

.....

Unfortunately for Viktor, the universe tended to have different plans than his own, and just as Viktor had begun studying just how thick and luscious Yuri's eyelashes were, the fucking phone rang

_"Church bells ring, rice on the ground, looks like snow, call my bluff, call you 'babe', have my back yeah every day, feels like home, the whole weekend, it's nice to have a freind,"_

Dammit Phichit!!

Before Viktor could even find the phone and attempt to silence it- wich he knew was bad form but _Yuri was **sleeping**_ \- the yakuza was up, blinking slowly up at Viktor and offering him a shy smile before sitting up and swiping the phone from the nightstand

"Moshi moshi?"

Viktor sighed softly, flopping out on his back and feeling the kinks in his muscles begin to work themselves out

"Ah, no, I slept in Phichit, sorry, but I'll be there later,"

Back to the inn, Viktor was willing to guess

"I didn't, we were babysitting Mei Shi and Viktor slept over- ... n-no, because it was late when Guang Hong picked her up and I didn't want him driving,"

Something about that gave Viktor a pleasant shiver, he couldn't pinpoint it but there was just something about the _control_ or... or maybe to do with the _concern_ in that sentence that made Viktor feel so _cared for_...

He had felt it last night too, the draw, the heat under his skin, the way Yuri cared for him never ceased to make Viktor damn near _swoon_

"We're having breakfast, I'll come by after ok? Did you talk to Guang Hong? I'd like to meet with him later,"

Oh well, there went Viktor's plans to gently persuade Yuri to stay with him longer...

"After the Stilinski meeting sounds perfect, I'll see you later Phich, _sayonara tomodachi_ ,"

"That means 'goodbye freind', right?" Viktor smiled as Yuri hung up the phone

"It does," Yuri confirmed with a nod

"I always end my phone calls with my kobun that way,"

"Oh! That's cute!"

"Thanks," Yuri chuckled, setting the phone aside and rubbing the back of his neck

"So um.... good morning,"

"Good morning," Viktor practically cooed, snickering a little at the bedhead he had just noticed Yuri sporting

His hair was completely flattened on one side wile some of the back was sticking up in a frenzy of different directions

It was kind of hilarious

"I'm sorry if sleeping late caused you to be late for anything," the pakhan added a beat later

"O-Oh no no no, really it's fine, it was nothing scheduled, like I said last night, I'm just going to stop by the inn a little later,"

"Ah... right...." Viktor nodded slowly

For a moment, there was silence- awkward silence, wherein neither of them really knew what to say, before Yuri finally spoke up

"Vitkor, do you remember much of last night?"

Ok, Viktor hadn't quite expected that question

"I.. think I remember _all_ of last night actually,"

"O-Oh, good,"

Ah... more awkwardness....

Viktor was going to have to fix this, wasn't he?

"Yuri, are we going to talk about the fact that we've been flirting with eachother for over a month and neither of us have made a move yet?"

Considering the red hue that had just taken over Yuri's face, Viktor was pretty willing to guess that this, indeed, was what had kept them from enjoying their morning together without awkwardness all this time

"I.. well.... what do you... I mean.... do you want.... t-to...-?"

"Yuri can I be your boyfreind?" Viktor finally blurted out, watching as the scarlet red took a turn for a darker, more cherry colored shade

Poor Yuri, Viktor was slowly killing him here, wasn't he?

"Y-You really... want that?"

"Yuuuuuuriiii!!! _Ofcourse_ I do! Have I really been that subtle?" Viktor laughed

Because he had to laugh- if he didn't, he would just find all of this to be really _sad_

"I-... well... I don't know.... maybe I've just been dense...." Yuri mumbled quietly, hanging his head and toying with the hem of his shirt

Rolling his eyes playfully, Viktor sat up and reached out, gently cupping Yuri's face and leaning in closer to him

"I suppose there's nothing wrong with that... but you've yet to answer my question,"

Yuri smiled shyly, pressing closer and letting their foreheads rest against eachother

"If.... if you want to then.... be my boyfreind, Viktor?"

Barely able to keep himself from screaming with excitement, Viktor eagerly slammed forward, nocking Yuri over and practically kissing the breath out of him

It was the best kiss he'd ever had

~+~

_"Havana ooh na na, half of my heart is in Havana ooh na na, he took me back to east Atlanta na na na, all of my heart is in Havana, there's something about his manners,"_

A brisk November day, a week after the deal with the Red Dragon Triad had been sealed, and Phichit was in high spirits

Landing his broom in the back yard of Yuri's house, knowing that there were no human neighbors around to see him, he continued singing along with his iPod as he stepped through the grass and propped his broom up against the side of the house, giving a little zing of his fingers to put a locking spell on the broom so that no one could take off with it- you know, just in case

_"He got me feeling like oooohhh, I knew it when I met him, I loved him when I left him, got me feeling like ooooohh, and then I had to tell him I had to go,"_

The tails of his coat bellowed in the wind behind him as he headed around the curve of the house, his hips swaying, dancing with every step as he twirled and twisted, spun and shimmied along the walk-way, fully enjoying himself and his music as he headed to the front door, spotting the increasingly familiar pink Cadillac in the driveway that signaled that Viktor had spent the night- _again_

He knew it shouldn't matter, but he really hoped that last night had been _The Night_

The Night that Phichit had been waiting on since October, when they would finally end the chastity to their slow-blooming romance and nail eachother

Apparently they were both unintentionally taking it slow, and even though Viktor had stayed the night at Yuri's every night that week, neither had them had made a move beyond making out

Phichit knew his best freind was shy, but he also knew that Yuri could potentially relax into this relationship a little more if he just let himself go and finally showed Viktor _all_ of who he was

...

Or atleast another quarter or so of who he was, the witch thing would still have to stay under wraps for a wile, he guessed

_"Havana ooh na na, half of my heart is in Havana ooh na na,"_

Taking his key out of his pocket, he slid it into the lock and gave it a turn, opening the door with delight.. and immediately realizing that he wasn't the only one having a musical morning

_"Then I saw his face, now I'm a believer!"_

Taking his earbuds out, Phichit watched in amusement as Viktor danced around the kitchen mixing something in a bowl wile Yuri joined in, twirling around as he set two bowls of food on the floor for the dogs

_"Not a trace of doubt in my mind!"_

Snickering to himself, Phichit shut the door quietly behind him and tip-toed towards the kitchen to get a better look at their crazy duet

_"I'm in love, and I'm a believer, I couldn't leave him if I tried,"_

Viktor's fingers skimmed along Yuri's jaw as he practically cooed the lyrics at him, stealing a kiss and shaking his hips as he spun towards the counter, seeming to follow the beat of Yuri's laughs more than the music

 _"What's the use in trying? All you get is pain, when I wanted sunshine I got rain!"_ Yuri shouted back, following Viktor step for step as he jumped onto the counter and slid across it, hooking his legs around Viktor's waist as his fingers skimmed along the bottom of the upper cabinet door, the door swinging open with force right after

Uh-oh, magic alert

_"Then I saw his face!!"_

Well if Viktor noticed it, he sure as hell wasn't reacting to it

 _"Now I'm a believer~"_ Yuri purred, cupping Viktor's face and leaning in for a kiss on the lips as the other cabinet doors around them started to fly open, the waffle iron practically flying off of the top shelf

Phichit, eyes steadily widening, quickly used his own magic to stop the appliance from shooting halfway across the kitchen and lowered it steadily to the counter instead, giving a flick of his wrist and a snap of his fingers to shut the remaining cabinet doors around them before Yuri came up for air and Viktor could become wise to the situation

Yuri was an excellent witch, he hadn't become High Preistess by birth right alone, otherwise that title would have gone to his sister, so for him to lose control like this and let his emotions conduct his magic- especially around a human- he must.... _really_ be feeling ecstatic

It wasn't like it was uncommon for witches, in fact, magic was primarily controlled by emotion, it was only through training that witches learned to harness that natural ability into controlling magic with conscious thought instead, and wile even the most highly trained witch had slip-ups now and again, it certainly surprised Phichit to see Yuri lose himself with such ease, especially in a _happy_ situation

Yuri's loss of control was much more prone to happening in situations of anxiety and upset, not joy

It kind of made Phichit sad to have to interrupt the moment, but he couldn't put the world on hold for the two lovebirds, no matter how much he wanted to

 _"I'm in love, I'm a believer, I couldn't leave him if I tried,"_ Viktor sighed adoringly as Yuri pulled back from him

"Adorable" really didn't do this situation justice, but Phichit finally had to call it quits, turning the radio down and clearing his throat, successfully pulling Yuri's attention away from the lovestruck expression he had just been sharing with his boyfreind

"P-Phichit!! H-How... long have you been standing there...?"

"Around the time you put the dog bowls down," Phichit chuckled back as he leaned against the kitchen wall, grinning as Vicchan and Makkachin, who had finished breakfast already, hurried up to greet him

"Hey you two!! How are my favorite puppers!?" he beamed happily, eagerly scratching them both behind the ears

"Good morning Phichit! I keep forgetting you have a key," Viktor smiled, though Phichit could sense the slight annoyance laying beneath those words

Screw it though, Phichit had been Yuri's best freind for most of their lives, he had been around for _far_ longer than Viktor had, he had _earned_ that key

"Yep, have ever since Yuri bought this house, when we both moved here from Japan, together, several years ago," Phichit smiled back just as brightly

Don't get him wrong, Phichit _adored_ Viktor, he was the number one fan rooting for the pakhan and Yuri to finally take the next step, and then every following step after that like marriage and kids and indoctrinating Viktor into the coven, but he was also still a logical minded person who had witnessed human cruelty far too many times, and he was _viciously_ protective of Yuri, so he was aware of Viktor's ability to potentially hurt his freind... and he wasn't about to allow it

Phichit may adore Viktor, but he wasn't going to back off of his _own_ love for Yuri just because Viktor got a little irritable about it

He wasn't going to let Yuri get hurt- by Viktor, or anyone else

Yuri, as per usual, was completely oblivious to all of this

"I didn't miss a call from you, did I Phich?" Yuri frowned, slowly sliding off of the countertop, much to Viktor's clear disappointment, and grabbing his phone from the kitchen table to double check

"Nope, no missed call, but Leo called me about an hour ago, they've got the bastard that killed that girl,"

"Really?" Yuri asked excitedly

"Yep, I told him we'd be there later, so don't rush through breakfast on my account,"

Yuri seemed a bit unsure about that, he certainly wanted to have an easy-going breakfast with Viktor, but.... they had been waiting on information about this monster for so long, waiting when he knew that there had been a development felt like _torture_

"You can go if you want to my darling,"

Jerking his head up, Yuri turned his attention to Viktor, to the warm look on his face- bittersweet, smiling but with a hint of sadness underneath the love in his eyes- as the pakhan encouraged him to go on

"I understand, really, I won't be offended,"

Yuri didn't look nearly as convinced

Just seeing the sadness in Viktor's eyes was enough for him to want to stop any ideas he'd had of leaving early

"That's really ok Viktor," Yuri promised, leaning up to give him a soft kiss on the cheek, expression stretching out into a small smirk

"I couldn't leave you if I tried, remember?"

~+~

"So you two still haven't banged yet huh?"

Perhaps not, but Viktor wanted to bang his head into the table at this point

"No, Chris, we have not 'banged', you do know there's more to a relationship than sex don't you?"

"Yes... but I also know you haven't gotten laid since before I joined your crew and personally, I don't think I would survive that long, so I worry for your health,"

Viktor snorted, rolling his eyes as his fingers traced absently along some marks in the wood of the table

"Sure, my health," he huffed back with a playfull roll of his eyes

"I'm serious Viktor, if you keep this up you might die or something,"

Viktor adored Chris, but this was definitely one area he could stand to see modified

"Yuri and I are taking it slow, I don't want to jump the gun and clearly neither does he, also since when is 'one week in a relationship' taking it 'slow' anyway? Has the world become so sexualized that not screwing someone you"ve only dated for a week is really a scandal?"

"It's more the fact that you've been dancing around eachother for over a month than anything else _mon cher_ ," Chris chuckled in return, tapping his chin thoughtfully as he stared at the walls before him, though if he was trying to mentally measure something or more decide on a design aesthetic, Viktor wasn't sure

"Can we please change the subject, hm? We _are_ working,"

"You're right, you're right, besides your lack of sex life is depressing me," Chris mused with a wave of his hand

Viktor just rolled his eyes again

"What do you think of having a bar along this wall?"

"I think that'd be a great place for it,"

"Good, good, I've been thinking of turning this place into a bit more of a _tavern_ than a _restaurant_ ," he mused

"Mmm I'm not sure how I feel about that... true the booze money would be good but I was really hoping for something quieter... I still think you should talk to somebody who's done this before though,"

"Do you have any suggestions on who that might be then?"

And therein laid the problem, in that Viktor really... _really_ didn't know anyone who had ever worked in the restaurant business before

"Oh! Perhaps Yuri knows someone I could ask!"

"Well then call him Lover Boy," Chris winked playfully

Unfortunately for Viktor, just as he reached for his phone, it started to ring

_Ooh you're a cool cat, coming on storng with all the chit chat  
OOoh you're alright_

"I still cannot BELIEVE that's your ringtone for Yura," Chris noted, wrinkling his nose

"You say that like it's so offensive just because it's not heavy metal, but it's _Queen_!! That's great!"

"It's just weird and you only did it because it's got the word 'cat' in it,"

"Not at all, listen to the song sometime my overly-sexual freind, it actually is quite fitting of Yura,"

With that said, he cleared his throat and pressed the answer button

"Yura! Hello!! How are you toda-"

_"Georgi's in the hospital,"_

Ah.... what a way to sour an otherwise good mood...

Expression turning more serious, a grimness fell over the pakhan at those words, instinctively straightening his posture

"And why would that be?"

_"The Langdons wouldn't pay up so Georgi went to convince them, turns out they have a fancy new son-in-law to protect them, an ex-boxer, Georgi ended up with a broken arm and several busted ribs, among other less serious wounds, I think the guy actually felt sorry for him, given that he let Georgi get away with his life,"_

"Ah... _kakoye der'movoye shou_... alright, thanks," Viktor sighed, rubbing his head in frustration

"I guess I'll have to go see the Langdons myself, tell me though, did Georgi atleast have his gun when he lost against the Langdons' pet? Or was he stupid enough to rely on his fists alone?"

_"Evidently he **did** take his gun, yes, it just didn't do much good,"_

"Good to fucking know," Viktor grumbled, saying a quick goodbye to the blonde and turning his attention up to Chris instead

"I'm afraid we'll have to finish this later my freind, it appears that I have a mess to clean up,"

~+~

"Elliot Snyder, that's the man we've got in custody,"

Staring down at the folder in front of them, Phichit allowed his lips to tick up into a slight grin

"Wow, gotta admit, I really never expected a guy named _Snyder_ to be our mortal enemy,"

"Well, that aside, he _is_ a formidable assassin," Leo insisted, flipping the folder open for the witches to see

"Assassin.... just like the first one," Yuri pointed out

"So they really _aren't_ hiring actual witch hunters for this, just assassin that they're turning _into_ witch hunters," Phichit added, crossing his arms over his chest in distaste

It was bad enough that they had to deal with witch hunters who were witch hunters from the get-go, but now they had to contend with witch hunters who were being _made_ from former assassins

And the thing about hunters- any type of hunter- is that once they started, they often found it hard to stop

Just as humans who hunted animals felt a thrill from the kill of something more powerfull than they were, humans who hunted supernaturals felt that thrill ten-fold

And no matter how often they liked to use the excuses of "protecting humans" or "following their religious beleifs", that was always what it came down to in the end- power

A need for power, a third for power, just... _power_ over another lifeform....

"Evidently, but wait, it gets better,"

With that, Leo flipped through a few pages, pointing out a name scribbled on one of the lines

"See this name? Cao Bin? A confirmed hit by Mr. Snyder, and a very vocal enemy of one Michele Crispino,"

"You think he's been hired by the Crispinos before," Yuri concluded in awe

"That would make _both_ of these assholes former employees of Michele's," Phichit added

"Not enough evidence to charge the Crispinos headfirst but enough to swing our focus towards them," Yuri agreed with a nod

"So where do we go from here?" Leo asked, frowning tensely

"We'll send for the witch hunter to be taken from his current holding cell back to the inn, let Minako try her hand at prying some information out of him, in the mean time we'll alert our allies to stay attuned to the Crispinos, to stay alert for any information that may be usefull to us, we'll see about getting a mole to intercept one of these orders from the Crispinos and see if it's really them hiring the witch hunters,"

"And if it is?" Phichit asked, eyes glimmering with passion and eagerness

"Isn't that answer obvious?" Yuri replied, leaning back in his chair

"We go to war,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> -"Bullshit,"  
> -"What a shit show..."


	6. Calm Before The Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs:
> 
> -"Watermelon Sugar" by Harry Styles

_Breathe me in, breathe me out  
I don't know if I could ever go without_

The music in the background covered up his cursing as he ran the cold water over his bruised nuckles, he tried to focus on that, rather than the pain radiating through him

Viktor winced quietly, dabbing a cloth over his fat lip

He wondered if he could hide the wound with make up...

He knew it was probably wrong to try to hide his injuries from Yuri, but this would be the second time he'd appeared to Yuri with a busted face and Yuri had never gotten so much as a pappercut around him

Not that there was anything bad about that, not that Viktor _wanted_ Yuri to get hurt- oh god no, Viktor would rather end up with a broken bone than see Yuri with so much as a bruise

But the fact still remained that Viktor didn't want to be some creature of pity that Yuri always saw as coming out on the ugly end of a fight

Even though Viktor had won both times, it was still a bad look

....

Not unlike the black eye and cut lip....

He could cover up the other cuts and bruises with clothes, but his face would require a little something extra...

With a sigh, he reached into his make up case and pulled out his concealer, unscrewing the cap... just as the doorbell rang

" _Chert poberi_...."

Assuming it was one of his own, Viktor headed out of the bathroom and down the stairs, hurrying to the door and swinging it open, about to tell whoever it was that he would have to talk to them later, if it wasn't an emergency, but he didn't get the chance, stopping short when he actually came face to face with-

"Yuri!!"

"Viktor.... what the hell happened to your face!?"

Welp, there went his excitement at seeing his boyfreind early

"It's nothing my darling, really, it was just a minor scuffle,"

" _A minor scuffle_?" Yuri huffed, flabbergasted

"Don't worry, I won!"

"Viktor that isn't even REMOTELY what's concerning me," Yuri frowned, crossing his arms over his chest

"...It's because I'm hurt, right?"

"Bingo," the yakuza sighed back, reaching out to gently- so very gently- press his fingers against the uninjured side of Viktor's face

"I'll heal you, ok? But you need to come home with me so I can get my tools,"

"Yuri, you don't have to-"

"I _want_ to," Yuri insisted with a frown

"Why the hell would I have the opportunity to put you back in perfect health and not take it?"

Ah.... he did have a fair point.....

"Now are you coming, Viktor, or am I going to have to drag you there?"

Yuri was teasing

He was _definitely_ teasing

.......................

He was almost _certainly_ teasing

.....

Right?

~+~

"Do you heal all of your kobun like this?"

"Mmm, no, usually I let one of the professional healers do it, but I like getting my hands on you personally,"

"I feel so special," Viktor grinned, sighing softly and pleasantly as the warmth from the cloth over his eyes began to really sink in

"So you have professional healers then? Like... doctors, or more like you?"

"More like me, people who are trained in this kind of art, we do have traditional western healers like doctors too though,"

"That's pretty cool," Viktor hummed softly

"I'm glad you think so, I'm also glad you think of yourself as my kobun even though you're my equal, it's.... cute,"

"Well I'm happy to be adored," Viktor grinned, wincing a little as Yuri pressed another cloth over his lip

"Mmm, you should know, however, that if you're going to be my kobun, you're going to have to behave and actually _tell me_ when you get injured so I can take care of you,"

And here comes the lecture....

"And do you insist on _all_ of your kobun telling you everytime they get hurt?"

"Yes," Yuri replied flatly, wich was... definitely a shock, to put it mildly

"Atleast... if it's a serious wound or if it was done in battle,"

"In battle?"

"Like your's, I like to know who's drawn the blood of my kobun," Yuri explained, pressing the cloth a little bit harder against Viktor's swollen lip, frowning as his lover winced

"I see," Viktor said softly, noting that he could taste some strange... herbal.. flavor had seeped into his mouth from the cloth

It didn't taste very good, as a matter of fact, he kind of hated it, but he wasn't going to complain

The herbs must be what caused that amazing healing that Yuri had harnessed

"You really are a very good oyabun aren't you? You take such good care of people.... you must like it, caretaking, I mean,"

"Actually I do," Yuri smiled shyly

"I know it sounds a little strange but.... I really do like taking care of people, fixing things for them, just making sure they're safe and living their best lives... I don't know, maybe it's because of the culture of yakuza, or... maybe just my clan specifically.... but I truly adore everyone I consider to be _mine_ and I want the best for them,"

"Ah... so then... does that mean that.. I'm your's as well?"

"Oh Viktor," Yuri smiled softly, leaning down to gently kiss his lover's forehead

"You, more than anyone else,"

Viktor gave a gentle smile of his own, realizing pleasantly that his lip no longer hurt just as Yuri pulled the cloth away

"I'm happy to hear that," Viktor said softly

"I want to be your's, I know that I'll never quite be like your kobun, and don't get me wrong, I like being your equal, I just...."

Viktor paused, not sure how to finish that sentence without sounding weak or.... or _stupid_...

"But part of you wants more, right?" Yuri guessed softly, gently rolling Viktor's shirt up to check for any bruises

"You like being my equal when we're in the feild together but when it's just us, in the quiet moments, you want more security, right? You want to be able to... lean back into my presence, to feel comforted and held and _owned_... you want to know you're mine the way that Phichit and Leo and all of my other kobun know they're mine, that's why you keep implying that you're yakuza even though you aren't, right?"

Viktor shivered, the assessment a little too close for comfort... and definitely what he wanted to hear

"You've almost got it, but you're missing a few parts," Viktor replied, slowly sitting up and gently cupping Yuri's face, the cloth falling from his eyes and landing gracelessly in his lap

"I don't just want to be yakuza because of wanting you to be.... in control of me, I still think we'd be stronger fully together, merged, like two countries joined by marriage, if I became yakuza and you became bratva, no one could ever tear apart our families or our alliance, that's the first thing you got wrong,"

"And the second thing?"

Viktor's lips twitched into a small smile, his expression warm as he gently cupped Yuri's face and brought him closer

"I don't want to be your's the way your kobun are, I want to be your's in a way that _nobody_ else is, in a way that's only _mine_ ,"

Yuri's expression lightened, warm and sweet, but with a slight edge to it as well, promising something mischievous lurking beneath his loving eyes

"I think that can be arranged,"

~+~

"A-Ahh... Yuri... fuck!!"

Some people may see it as a bad sign, laughing during sex, but to Yuri, it had always been a plus

He'd once heard a saying that if you were sleeping with someone you couldn't laugh with, then you didn't need to be sleeping with them

...

Or something like that

Well, it didn't really matter at this point, he was _definitely_ where he was supposed to be with Viktor

"Sorry, was that too rough?" he chuckled

Viktor looked like a freshly fucked _mess_ and they hadn't even gotten their clothes off yet

He may never forgive Yuri for the wreckage that his hair currently was, but Yuri couldn't bring himself to care

"Ha, you'll have to get alot rougher than a little nip if you want me to take _that_ question seriously," Viktor winked playfully, hurrying to start undoing the third button of his shirt

That supposed "little nip" was currently blossoming into a beautifull bruise on the side of Viktor's neck, Yuri only hated that he so often wore ties and it would end up getting covered...

Maybe he should be more cautious about things like this, considering that Viktor- despite what he wanted from his relationship with Yuri- was a powerfull and imposing figure and needed to maintain his status as such

...

But with magic in Yuri's veins, capable of undoing whatever damage Yuri inflicted, it seemed pointless to be cautious for such a trivial matter

"Let me," Yuri insisted softly, gently but firmly pressing Viktor against the bedroom door and leaning up to drag his teeth just behind Viktor's ear, one hand moving down to take Viktor's wrists and then pin them above his head, a gasp followed by a few moaning breaths followed, Yuri's fingers tracing a line down the center of Viktor's shirt as the buttons undid themselves

Yuri would be lying if he said he didn't have a sort of attraction to magic, most witches did- the capable ones, atleast- but the way he used it during sex....

It was incomparable to everything else

"Y-Yuri..." Viktor breathed, pressing his hips forward as Yuri nipped the edge of his ear, sucking on the soft skin and releasing Viktor's hands only long enough to get him out of that shirt before his fingers pressed against Viktor's belt and the leather strap undid it's self and seemed to fall right out of Viktor's pants

Yuri took the opportunity to slide his hands down to Viktor's hips, rubbing small circles into his bones with the pads of his thumbs as grinded against the silver-haired beauty, pulling a desperate wimper out of Viktor's throat as the pakhan ran his own fingers through Yuri's hair, gently dragging his nails along the brunette's scalp as he leaned down to drag kisses against the side of Yuri's jaw

Viktor's pants were pooled around his ankles at this point, Yuri's magic making quick work of the clothes before he hurried to take off his jacket and toss it across the room, catching Viktor's lips in another eager kiss as he slid his fingers along the center of his shirt to get rid of that hinderance as well, the cloth falling off of Viktor's shoulders like silk

"Yuuriii.... you're wearing _far_ too many clothes..." Viktor complained with a huff, cupping Yuri's face and dragging his teeth along the side of his lover's neck, his free hand grabbing at Yuri's jacket and trying to tug it off with the same smoothness and finesse that Yuri had disrobed him with

It was much more of a rough, sloppy attempt without magic to assist him, but Yuri enjoyed it, finding it charming and preferring the rougher movements anyway

Unfortunately, the rest of his clothes wouldn't be nearly so easy to remove, and for the sake of time, Yuri undid his own buttons and belt and zipper with a few gracefull sweeps of his fingers, allowing Viktor to find them already undone with a bit of confusion

Luckily they were both too absorbed in the moment for Viktor to pay it much mind though

With a few easy sweeps of Viktor's hands, Yuri's state of undress mirrored his partner's, and before Yuri could think to act, his hands already moving for Viktor's hips again, the pakhan and sunk to the floor and given Yuri's boxers a swift and easy yank down

"Vik- _AH_!"

Not giving his partner time to think, Viktor's mouth was on him in an instant, running his tongue in a slow sweep up the shaft of his cock before taking the tip in his mouth and sucking slowly, his hands moving up to squeeze Yuri's thighs as Yuri's fingers tangled into his hair, a few quiet curses falling from the yakuza's lips as his eyes rolled with pleasure

Yuri had had partners before- _eager_ partners, but Viktor was.... Viktor was unlike _anything_ he had ever experienced in the past

The sheer excitement that Viktor possessed just to have Yuri in his mouth was damn near unbelievable, but that was one of the things Yuri adored about him most- when he wanted something, he went after it, no holds bar

"V-Viktor...." he breathed, his nails scratching gently down the back of his lover's neck as Viktor took him in further and further, swallowing him deeper and hollowing his cheeks, spurred on by the feeling of Yuri's nails pricking the back of his neck and his fingers tugging roughly on his hair

Viktor was quite pleased with himself for taking such initiative, but Yuri wasn't going to fall to his advances quite so easily, he had his own plans for Viktor and coming down his throat wasn't part of them

....

Well, not _yet_ atleast

"V-Viktor... sweetheart.... stop... stop... I need to- .. I can't... like this..."

Viktor pulled his mouth away only long enough to press a few kisses along Yuri's inner thighs, grinning proudly to himself when the yakuza's legs buckled

"Can't what, my darling? You have to be more specific," he teased

Apparently that was the wrong thing to do- or, right, depending on one's opinion- as Yuri wasted no further time in gently but firmly pressing his foot to the center of Viktor's chest and nocking him onto the floor

The stunned and clearly aroused look on Viktor's face was particularly enjoyable for Yuri to look at as he experimented with gently pressing his foot down harder, a breathy cry of pleasure leaving his partner as Viktor arched up eagerly for more

Huh, Yuri would have to keep that in mind for another time

Swiftly, he moved his foot away, dropping down to keep his legs spread, straddling Viktor's waist as he easily pinned his lover's wrists above his head and started dragging kisses down the center of Viktor's chest, grinning to his lover as Viktor writhed and twitched beneath him

"Y-Yuri.... _fuck_... Yuri..."

"You really do like me being in control, don't you, _vozlyublennaya_?"

" _Fuck_!"

Evidently Viktor had more of a language kink than Yuri first thought, and learning those few words off the internet over the last few days had come in handy more than Yuri expected they would

"Yes... yes, fuck yes, Yuri, _moy lyubimyy_ , let me give everything to you, please, I'll... I'll give _everything_ to you...."

Yuri shivered at those declarations, shifting Viktor's wrists beneath one hand as his now free hand moved down to drag patterns over his lover's chest, his thumb brushing over one nipple as Viktor twitched and rocked his hips beneath him

"You know," Yuri mused slowly, dragging his fingers down the center of Viktor's chest, pressing down just as he had moments before with his foot

"I do have high heels,"

Viktor moaned desperately, a shiver flowing through him

_"Chert voz'mi ... ty pytayesh'sya menya ubit'?"_

Ofcourse, Yuri's Russian wasn't _nearly_ good enough to figure out what _that_ meant yet, so he improvised, giving a soft laugh in return and kissing Viktor sweetly as he rolled his thumb down against Viktor's nipple, pinching gently before skimming his nails down the pakhan's ribs

"You can be mine, Viktor," Yuri promised, pressing a kiss to the corner of Viktor's mouth

" _Will_ be mine," he asserted, kissing his jaw

"You **are** mine," he punctuated with a kiss to Viktor's lips, long and slow, shifting his position down lower and rolling his hips against Viktor's, delighted when Viktor copied him, his hands slowly leaving their places and spreading out over Viktor's chest instead, sweeping slowly all the way down his torso and pausing just above where Yuri's hips met with Viktor's, his fingers teasing the waistband of his partner's underwear as he finally broke the kiss and nipped Viktor's ear instead

"Ofcourse, _these_ have to come off first,"

Usually Yuri wouldn't mind doing that _for_ his partner, but if he had to get up anyway...

Gracefully, he rose back to his feet, leaving Viktor as a dazed mess on the floor as the pakhan shot up straight and stumbled to get out of his underwear and climb back to a standing position of his own, eyes following Yuri as the yakuza sauntered into the bathroom and grabbed the lube from underneath the cabinet

He didn't even get back to the bedroom before Viktor had caught him in another kiss, one hand on his face as his other rested on Yuri's lower back, curling his arm around him easily lifting him up, drawing a gasp from the smaller man as Viktor carried him to bed and fell backwards, letting Yuri stay on top as he pulled the yakuza down with him, refusing to break the kiss

It was rough and messy, Yuri finally rolling off with a soft laugh as he took in Viktor's disheveled appearance and started pressing soft, gentle kisses across any inch of skin he could reach

Viktor looped their fingers together, moving closer and joining their lips again as he moved to straddle Yuri's waist, grinding down against him and pulling a low moan from the other man as he did

Yuri pushed himself up on his elbows, moving his hand up to gently rest over the back of Viktor's neck and sweep his thumb smoothly over his lover's jaw, earning a low moan from the other man

"V-Viktor.... I don't want to assume... are you-?"

"I'm fine without condoms, trust me, I trust you Yuri, I know you wouldn't-"

"A-Actually.... I was... going to say that I don't want to assume you were ok with bottoming..."

Yuri had sort of forgotten in the heat of things about _other_ issues, magical folk had different immune systems for humans, making things like human medication oftentimes useless and condoms oftentimes unnecessary

He couldn't even remember _ever_ needing condoms before

If Viktor was bothered by that though, he didn't seem to show it, instead laughing joyfully and giving Yuri another, albeit more adoring and less sensual kiss

"Oh trust me, _moy lyubimyy_ , I am _definitely_ ok with bottoming, I'm versatile but if I had to choose, I'd probably say I lean towards bottoming anyway,"

"Ooh... good..." Yuri breathed in releif, shifting up further to wrap his arms around Viktor's neck and starting pressing soft little lovebites across his skin

"I just.. I mean... I'm verse too... I just didn't want to assume that just because you sub you also-"

"Yuri, it's ok, you don't have to be so cautious," Viktor promised, cupping his lover's face and giving another soft kiss

"I promise, if there's anything I'm not ok with, I _will_ tell you,"

Face slightly red, Yuri only nodded his confirmation, dragging his nails down Viktor's back, letting them sink in a little deeper and bite at the soft flesh underneath his hands

Viktor shivered, rocking his hips a little bit harder against Yuri's as the yakuza finally allowed himself to fall back to the mattress, popping open the cap of the bottle in his hands and slicking his fingers up, setting the bottle aside as one hand moved to rest steadily on Viktor's hip, the other moving down lower, rubbing slowly between Viktor's legs, dragging his fingers back and forth between gently slipping one inside, a gasp of pleasure leaving the other man as he curled his fingers into the sheets by Yuri's head, plunging down for another kiss, this one deep and desperate, moving one hand down over Yuri's chest and teasing his nipples the same way Yuri had teased him earlier

The witch gave a quiet gasp of his own, eyes fluttering as he tried to focus on perfecting this experience for his lover

Magic is energy, it's something that flows through a witch's veins just like blood, it can heat under the demand of passion or cool beneath the umbrella of sadness or depression, magic is a life force and it's a witch's power to control that life force, that _energy_

And Yuri had become very well versed in controlling it during sex

He tilted his head back as he focused on the magic running through his veins, turning the natural energy to heat, warming his fingers as he dragged them against Viktor's skin

Clearly Viktor appreciated the change in temperature as he relaxed against the yakuza, moaning softly as Yuri pressed into him, his finger building a steady pace within him as he continued focusing the flow of his magic into his fingertips, using his power to stretch Viktor a little bit further, a little bit faster than he could have with his fingers alone

Yuri didn't mind prep work- he actually quite enjoyed it... _usually_

But in times like these when he just felt so desperate to _connect_ with Viktor, for the two of them to truly be joined together, atleast for a few moments....

His patience wasn't quite as good as he'd like to believe it was

"Y-Yuri..." Viktor wimpered, his hips rocking back against his partner's hand as he cupped Yuri's face and gave him another kiss

Yuri's lips ticked up into a smile, nipping at Viktor's lower lip and sucking gently as he carefully pressed a second finger inside of him, eyes glinting with excitement and pleasure as the pakhan arched his back and gasped

Needing more, needing to break Viktor apart faster and deeper than he already was, he removed his fingers, trying not to laugh at the wimper that left his lover's throat as he gently but firmly pushed Viktor back, the other man falling easily back against the mattress as Yuri shifted their positions, pressing two fingers into him again and crooking his wrist to push them in further than before, earning a shout of delight from his partner as he easily found the little ball of nerves inside of him that set Viktor's body alight with pleasure

"Y-Yuri!! _Fuck_!!"

"Yes Viktor?" Yuri purred teasingly, kissing his lover again and rubbing over that spot again and again as Viktor's legs trembled

"You're.... such a sadist..." he gasped, faking a pout up at his lover as Yuri dragged his nails along the inside of Viktor's thigh, pressing down right in the center and grinning at the absolutely _broken_ sound of delight that followed

"You say that as if I'm supposed to be insulted," Yuri mused with a smirk, biting the tip of Viktor's ear and pressing his nails down again

"But in our world, sadism is practically a love language, isn't it?"

"Ha...ahh.... cruel bastard...." Viktor teased playfully, grinning as Yuri's teeth dragged down his neck again, biting a little more roughly than before

"Mm... back at you sweetheart,"

"F-Fuck Yuri... please more... please... I-I need..."

"Need...?" Yuri drawled slowly, eyebrows quirked up as he rubbed a third finger against Viktor's rim, threatening to press inside, but not coming through on it just yet

"Yuri _fuck me_ , please!"

"I will, Viktor, I promise," Yuri said softly, giving his partner a sweet, warm kiss, hoping to take the edge off a little as he carefully pressed a third finger inside him, smiling at the disappointed wimper Viktor gave in response

"Yuuuurrriii..... enough teasing.... I want your cock... pretty please?" he begged as he pulled back from Yuri's lips

"I'm not _teasing_ you, _vozlyublennaya_ , I'm prepping you, there's a difference,"

"I'm prepped _enough_ , Yuriiii.... please?"

Yuri only shook his head, kissing him again as he pumped his fingers inside of his partner, taking care to go slowly, to make absolutely _sure_ that Viktor was stretched enough for him

Even if Viktor liked a little pain, that wasn't something he wanted to experiment with just yet, not without talking it over thoroughly first, and not with their first time together

Goddess willing, there would be more than enough time to experiment with eachother later on

"No, sweetheart, I'm not going to risk hurting you," he said seriously, his free hand moving up to cup Viktor's face, gently tugging him down to stare into his eyes

"I mean it Viktor, not now, not ever, I will take _every_ precaution to avoid hurting you... and I don't just mean with sex,"

Evidently, that was enough to convince Viktor, a quiet, soft, _"Yuri..."_ leaving him, eyes wide and sparkling as he stared up at his lover and pushed forward, kissing Yuri deeply, carding his fingers through his soft raven hair and stroking his thumb against Yuri's cheek affectionately

Yuri sank into the kiss, spreading his fingers out inside of his partner and smiling at the shudder that provoked

He let himself indulge for a wile longer, in the kiss and the work and just the _feelings_ of being so close to his lover

Yes, Yuri wanted to be closer, he craved the sensation of finally being one with eachother, but Yuri wasn't just a sadist, he was a bit of a masochist too

Finally, when he felt confident that Viktor was ready, he withdrew his fingers, grabbing the bottle of lube from where he had set it earlier and popping it open again, slicking himself up and grinning at the dazed look in Viktor's beautifull blue eyes as he watched Yuri's fingers work

"Ready?" Yuri purred, amused as Viktor huffed and reached up to pull Yuri down closer

" _Fuck yes_ ," he insisted, kissing Yuri deeply again and moaning as the yakuza finally pushed himself inside, staying still for just a moment, giving Viktor time to adjust, before pulling his hips back and then pressing forward again, a soft sigh of pleasure leaving his partner as Viktor tilted his head back, exposing his neck fully to Yuri and giving the yakuza the perfect opportunity to lean down and sink his teeth into his lover's neck, biting down roughly, sure to leave a mark this time, much to Viktor's pleasured moan as the pakhan's nails dragged across Yuri's back

He built up a steady pace within his partner, exchanging kisses and lovebites as he rocked his hips against Viktor's, the two of them moving together in perfect harmony

Yuri could have gone on like that forever, potentially

He had incredible stamina, he always had, but Viktor had already been building up to the edge over all this play and he couldn't quite say the same

"Y-Yuri.... _Yuri_.... _ya lyublyu tebya... ya lyublyu tebya tak sil'no..._ "

Yuri didn't know what Viktor was saying, but it certainly sounded like a compliment

He cupped Viktor's face, giving him another slow, deep kiss as he reached between them with his other hand and gently gripped Viktor's cock, stroking slowly as he rocked within him

Viktor was panting now, gasping and begging, crying out Yuri's name, chanting like a damn _mantra_ as he shook with pleasure, tossing his head back and arching his back as he finally claimed a release

Smirking like the devil, Yuri stroked him through the aftershocks before bringing his come-soaked hand to his lips, languidly licking off every last drop as Viktor watched

The pakhan _swore_ if it had been physically possible, he would have gotten hard again right then and there

Luckily it didn't take long after that for Yuri to reach his own climax, speeding up just a little bit more as he brought two fingers into his mouth, sucking the come off slowly and moaning in delight at the taste, finally releasing inside of his partner

For a few long moments, they were both quiet, neither wanting to break the moment, preferring to bask in the afterglow and the quiet of the moment, indulging in the quiet breaths exchanged between the two of them

"Y-Yuri..." Viktor finally breathed

"That was _amazing_ ,"

"Yeah... that... that was incredible," Yuri agreed, pressing a chaste kiss to the corner of Viktor's mouth, a smirk falling over his face

"And just imagine how good it'll be when we start getting kinky,"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> -"Goddammit..."  
> -"Sweetheart"  
> -"My beloved"  
> -"Dammit... are you trying to kill me?"  
> -"I love you.... I love you so much...."


	7. Unravel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Songs:
> 
> -"Season Of The Witch" by Lana Del Rey (cover)  
> -"Emergency" by Paramore

_Must be the season of the witch  
Must be the season of the witch, oh  
Must be the season of the witch_

Music played softly in the background, soothing, relaxing, as Yuri made his way slowly through the room, glancing at everything around him, studying everyone closely

"Good, good.... everyone is doing really well, I'm so proud of you,"

Without a doubt, one of his favorite things about being the High Preistess of his coven was getting to teach the next generations the way of magic

It wasn't something the High Preistess _had_ to do, and due to how busy Yuri was as an oyabun as well, that privilege was often divided between himself and several other highly experienced coven members such as Minako and occasionally Phichit

Even though it was something he was only privileged enough to do a few times a week, it was still one of Yuri's favorite things

"That's a great shade of blue in your potion Kagami, excellent work," Yuri smiled as he glanced into the cauldron

The pre-teen smiled appreciatively, thanking him for the compliment as he moved towards another table to check on another student

He didn't get very far though, just as he leaned forward to examine the contents of the cauldron, the doors to the classroom slammed open, jerking Yuri's attention away

"Phich-?"

"Yuri! We've got a lead on... on uh... _that thing_! Minako cracked the egg!"

The kids had yet to learn about the yakuza aspect of their organization, atleast for the most part, so they had to keep things quiet- though they would have even if that weren't the case, there was no need to panic the little ones by talking about things like torture and witch hunters in front of them

The coven and the yakuza were not mutually exclusive, there were plenty of coven members who didn't take part in yakuza business, like the Nishigoris, and a few members of the yakuza clan who, despite being part of supernatural society, weren't actually members of the coven- some just weren't cut out for coven life, Yuri didn't hold that against them, and the kids he helped train would be perfectly allowed to choose what part- if any- of the clan they wanted to be part of when they were older

For now though, it would be up to their parents to ease them into slowly

"...Right, I'll be right back kids," he said quickly, hurrying out of the classroom and shutting the door behind him, following Phichit to a more secluded part of the inn so they could speak more privately

"Well?" he asked hopefully, practically holding his breath for information

" _Well_ , there's bad news, good news, and then more bad news,"

That certainly didn't sound very positive...

"Go on..." Yuri prompted slowly

"Unfortunately he maintains that he was hired by that 'Cotton Mather' guy, so still no actual name to work with, and every bit of truth detection we have confirms it, BUT, on the bright side, he also confirmed that he met with the Crispinos recently, about a week ago,"

"That's good," Yuri nodded enthusiastically

Sure it wasn't proof that they were the ones who hired the hunter, but it was a pretty enormous coincidence if that wasn't the case

"Right, with your go-ahead, we're going to have the Crispinos bugged, we have a few new tricks up our sleeves to get close to them,"

"You have my permission, do whatever you need to do,"

"Thanks," Phichit sighed softly, expression turning a bit more grim as he crossed his arms over his chest

"Now for the _really_ bad news,"

"It gets worse?" Yuri asked with a frown

"Afraid so, when our freind _Snyder_ went to meet with the Crispinos, he said that he saw Sara Crispino sneaking around the house with a red-headed Russian who fits Mila's description,"

"...No, no no that has to be a mistake,"

"I don't know, he wasn't lying, so unless this is the weirdest case of mistaken identity ever or she has some kind of twin or doppelganger..."

Yuri bit his lip, his stomach churning from this information as he crossed his arms over his chest, running his fingers anxiously through his hair

"Ok.... ok, but it could still be a mistake, and even if it isn't, this doesn't mean that she's involved with them on a business level, maybe they're just dating, and even if they _are_ involved in business together, maybe Sara is the one helping Mila and not the other way around, o-or maybe... maybe they're just not involved in this assassination stuff... maybe-"

"Yuri," Phichit said softly, reaching out to gently place his hands over Yuri's arms, squeezing gently and pulling Yuri into a hug, rubbing his back warmly

"Yuri, sweetie, I know that you feel close to the bratva... but they _still_ aren't our people, and no matter how much you and Viktor care about eachother, that doesn't mean the rest of your clans are quite so eager to join up, and even if they were.... Mila could have been a traitor long before-"

"We don't know that she _is_ a traitor yet Phich!"

"....No, you're right, we don't know that.... but you have to stay open to the fact that she might be," he said quietly, leaning back and cupping Yuri's face

".....I know," the oyabun mumbled, his eyes still focused on the floor as he wrapped his arms around his chest, hugging himself anxiously, despite the comforting gesture of Phichit still rubbing his back

"It's up to you Yuri, what do we do? What would you like us to do?"

Yuri was quiet for a moment, rolling the options over in his head before giving a long, low exhale

"Find out if this is even something to worry about, do whatever you have to do to confirm or deny Mila's involvement with the Crispinos, in as much detail as possible, we'll go from there,"

Phichit nodded seriously, pulling back and taking Yuri's hand, giving it a small squeeze

"Yuri... you're doing the right thing,"

"Thanks Phich," Yuri said softly, forcing a smile

He just wondered, if he was doing the right thing, why did it feel so wrong...?

~+~

Needless to say, when Yuri got home, he wasn't exactly in the best mood, and seeing Viktor's distinct pink Cadillac in the driveway- wich usually would have made him feel so over the moon with joy- only made the pit in his stomach sink even further, reminding him of how likely the possibility was now that this beautifull _thing_ he and Viktor had may just be doomed to explode into flames and smitherines

Sighing quietly, he landed his broom by the side of the house, locking it in place with a flick of his wrist before heading to the driveway, wincing when Viktor practically jumped out of his car

He had been afraid of that...

"Yuri!! You're back!! Why are you coming from around the back?"

"O-Oh um... I.... got home a little wile ago, I was just visiting my neighbor about something,"

Thank God Viktor seemed to buy that

"Oh, ok! I have a gift for you my darling," Viktor said enthusiastically, racing towards his boyfreind and giving him a bright and happy kiss

"A-A gift...?"

"Yes!! May I come in so I can give it to you in peace? I may be Russian but that doesn't mean I like standing around in the snow," he laughed

"R-Right, sorry," Yuri mumbled, chewing his lip as he headed to the door and unlocked it, letting Viktor inside before shutting it behind him

"Viktor.... you really didn't have to get me a gift.... if this is because of last night-"

"Oh no no, I've had this in the work for a couple of weeks now!"

"W-Weeks?!"

They hadn't even been _dating_ for that long

Ofcourse Viktor had always been a pretty generous freind but....

"Yeah! I had to have time for it to be specially made after all,"

Yuri felt... so utterly conflicted

As touched as he was by Viktor's gesture, he was also extremely pained by it, knowing what he knew, that things might go to hell because of this Mila thing..... this just made that even harder....

"Viktor, before you give me... whatever it is, I... I think we need to talk,"

Viktor's face fell, and Yuri winced, instantly feeling _beyond_ guilty

"Y-You're not.... breaking up with me are you? Was I that bad in bed...?"

"W-What!? NO!!! V-Viktor no it's nothing like that at all!!"

"O-Oh... oh good," Viktor sighed in releif, his shoulders slumping as he moved into the living room, setting the box he'd been holding behind his back on the coffee table and sitting on the couch, giving Yuri his full attention

"Then what is it that you wanted to talk to me about my darling?"

Yuri took a deep, shaking breath and moved to carefully sit on the edge of the coffee table so he could face Viktor directly, gently taking his hands and cupping them in his own

"Viktor... I... you...." he paused, taking another breath and trying to calm himself before he screwed this up further

"Viktor, our jobs... sometimes they might _conflict_... I just... I want to be sure that even if... even if things go badly... even if someday I-... I have to.... if someday things go _wrong_ b-between.... between your clan and mine that you won't.... you won't...."

Ah.. dammit.... it was getting harder and harder not to cry....

"Yuri..." Viktor breathed softly, gently cupping his boyfreind's face

"Yuri, my darling... please tell me what's going on, you're frightening me...."

"I just... found out today that someone I thought I could trust might be involved with this assassin thing.... I can't say more yet but... but if it's true then it could badly impact another relationship I have and.... Viktor I just.... what if someday something horrible happens and... and our clans can't work together anymore? What if we end up turning _against_ eachother? What-"

"Yuri," Viktor interrupted, wrapping his arms around his lover and hugging him tightly

"My darling, you are more precious to me than gold, you know in Russia we actually have a petname for that? _Zolotse_ , it means 'my golden nugget', you are more precious to me than even that but it's the best I can call you... still, allow me to promise you, _zolotse_ , no matter what happens, no matter what comes between our clans, I will not allow it to affect the two of us, even if our clans end up becoming enemies, I will still adore you with every ounce of my soul, I will still _love_ you, I know that's rediculous to say about someone I only just met about a month ago but it stands true, I love you, Yuri Katsuki, and no matter what happens, I will never, ever, turn against you,"

Yuri couldn't help himself, he broke down in tears, unable to hold onto the stress anymore and overcome with the purity of the love Viktor was displaying for him

He leaned up timidly, pressing a loving kiss to Viktor's lips and wrapping his arms around his boyfreind, a shaking breath leaving him as Viktor curled his arms around the yakuza and dragged him into his lap, hugging him as tightly as possible and shushing him calmly, giving him a few more kisses here and there in an attempt to soothe him

"Viktor..... in Japan.... we... we don't say 'I love you' very often... it doesn't really hold the same meaning that it does in the west so-"

"It's ok, you don't have to sa-"

"But I love you," Yuri said firmly, with absolute sureness, as he pulled back and stared into Viktor's eyes

"I love you, I know that it's crazy but-"

"But if you're crazy darling, then so am I," Viktor grinned, giving Yuri a gentle, chaste kiss on the lips

Yuri smiled peacefully into the kiss, carding his fingers through Viktor's hair and exhaling slowly

It wasn't uncommon for magical folk to fall hard and fast for the people they loved, some said that they could just _sense_ their soulmates merely by being near them, Yuri wasn't sure if that was true or not, but he knew one thing for certain- that he loved Viktor Nikiforov

And he _prayed_ that love would be strong enough to get them through the oncoming storm

~+~

Viktor's surprise had been one of the most thoughtfull things Yuri had ever seen

At some point, he couldn't even remember when, he had mentioned being a fan of _Frozen_ and his interest in seeing the sequel

Viktor had shyly asked if they could see it together on opening day... after presenting Yuri with a designer Elsa jacket, much like the one she would be wearing in the movie

Viktor wasn't going to let Yuri have all the fun though, he had a matching Anna jacket himself

They had spent hours talking- about anything and everything

Planning the movie day, talking about spending that weekend decorating for Christmas, with Yuri agreeing to help Viktor spruce up his house given that this was his first Christmas in America and they celebrated a fair bit differently in Russia so he didn't have much to decorate with

They had talked about the clothes and about the movie and about their equally conflicting opinions on Disney- great content, terrible company

Yuri had told him about how companies like that in Japan would have gotten visits from the yakuza and Viktor had found the story beyond endearing

It was... _nice_

At some point the conversation diverged, they started talking about things that weren't as trivial- their futures, what they wanted out of life, what they wanted out of relationships and sex and what _kind_ of sex and kinks...

They learned alot about eachother- and about their increasing compatibility with eachother- and it was just....

By the time they had finished, the two of them falling asleep together on the couch despite being in the middle of a- sleep-drunk, admittedly- conversation, hours had gone by

They probably could have slept like that past dinner if it hadn't been for the phone- Yuri's phone- waking them up

_I think we have an emergency_  
_I think we have an emergency_  
_If you thought I'd leave then you were wrong, 'cause I won't stop holding on_

Viktor's nose wrinkled, his grip on his boyfreind tightening a little, but as soon as Yuri processed what he was hearing, he shot up straight, startling Viktor out of his own sleep as the witch hurriedly fished his phone out of his pocket

"Y-Yuri...?"

Yuri didn't answer his boyfreind, hurrying to answer the phone call instead

"P-Phich!?"

For a moment, things were utterly silent, a tense quiet having fallen over the two of them, before Yuri reached out, bracing himself against the coffee table as a look of pure, utter devastation fell over his face

"...How many-? .............Do you...... _are you **sure**?_ ........I'll be right there,"

With that, he hung up, hurrying off of the couch

"Y-Yuri!? What's going on?!" Viktor called desperately as he stumbled to his feet to hurry after him

"The inn was bombed, I have to go,"

"WHAT!?"

"It's alright, they... the bomb was caught in time, it didn't go off, everybody is safe,"

Viktor released a breath of releif, trying to process what was happening as Yuri rushed to the hallway and grabbed his shoes

"Good... I.. I'm glad, do you..... know who-?"

"The fucking bastard we caught earlier sent some sort of distress signal to whoever employed him, Phichit said there were three of them trying to break him out, but my clan is strong, they wiped them out,"

"Good...." Viktor mumbled, grabbing his own shoes quickly

"It would have been better if I had gotten to tear them to shreds myself," Yuri seethed

Viktor had certainly never heard anything that violent come from his beautifull little yakuza, it was a bit startling, but Viktor could very well identify with the reasons for it

"I understand, but they're dead now right? So it's ok-"

"It's not ok! It's not good enough! They went after my KIDS!" Yuri shouted, stunning Viktor into momentary silence

"...Kids?"

"My clan, some of them have kids who attend... special lessons at my inn, I teach them from time to time, it's... a cultural thing, the kids were there, they're the ones who were directly attacked,"

Viktor cursed under his breath, feeling sick to his stomach

If there was one rule that _all_ half-ass honorable mobsters went by, it was that kids should be left alone- _never_ targeted

The fact that this bastard clearly refused to follow that bit of common decency.....

"Why do you have your shoes?" Yuri asked suddenly, startling Viktor out of his own angry daze

"Ah... because I'm going-?"

"You're staying here," Yuri demanded, leaving no room for argument as he finished lacing up his boots

"Are you... _ordering_ me to stay here?" Viktor scoffed in disbeleif

"Yes,"

"Excuse me, you don't have that power over me Yuri, I know we talked about a BDSM relationship but I haven't signed-"

"Not as your dom, as your oyabun, you want to be my kobun? Then be good and stay here,"

"N-No!! No, as much as I like the... _fantasy_ of that, as much as I want to be part of your clan... I am still a pakhan, and I have my OWN clan to worry about, you and I are EQUALS, remember? You can't order me to do anything without my consent,"

Yuri's expression dimmed from anger to a soft, gentle sadness as he walked closer, gently cupping Viktor's face

"Look.... this relationship has alot of... facets to it, we can figure all of that out later, but I'm not asking you Viktor, I'm not playing around, I NEED you to stay here, I can't take you with me,"

"Why not!? Because you're afraid for my safety? I'm a big boy Yuri, I can-"

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but it's got nothing to do with _your_ safety,"

Viktor pursed his lips, eyes narrowing as he gently but firmly pressed his hand against Yuri's

"I can't let you go alone, in this emotional state? You might crash or something,"

"I'm not driving,"

"Yuri-"

"I need you to trust me Viktor, just stay-"

"No, **I** need **you** to trust **me** this time, our entire relationship I've been following you with my hands tied and my eyes covered and I've never minded because I trust you, because there's something about you that awakens something deeper in me that begs me to trust you, but.... not this time, for once Yuri, for _once_ , take a blind leap with ME instead, trust ME instead!"

For the longest moment, Yuri was absolutely silent, before he finally heaved a sigh and took his hand from Viktor's face, moving forward and grabbing his coat out of the closet

"If you're coming, bring a coat, it'll be cold,"

Perking excitedly, overjoyed that his plan had worked, Viktor hurried to grab his coat as ordered and rushed to Yuri's side, practically overflowing with joy over the fact that Yuri was trusting him with something that was clearly very serious to him

Yuri didn't seem nearly so pleased though, barely giving Viktor time to get his shoes on before heading out the door with the pakhan right on his heels, following suit as Yuri lead him around the house to the yard

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see,"

Viktor almost flinched

He had never heard Yuri's voice so monotone and emotionless before...

Yuri was a very emotionally driven person, even at his quietest, he was always soft in that way that only emotionally driven people could be, in that gentle, caretaking way....

He wasn't like that at all now....

"A.. broom...?" Viktor asked in confusion as Yuri reached out and grabbed the broom from the side of the house

"You wanted me to trust you Viktor? Then I'll trust you," Yuri said after a beat, turning towards Viktor with a tense look on his face and reaching out to gently glide his fingers against Vitkor's cheek

"I love you Viktor, I said it already, and I really mean it, but.... if you betray me, and endanger my coven, I **will** kill you, I love you... but I can't let you hurt my people,"

Viktor felt as though _ice_ had just been shot through his veins, his stomach twisting and turning with dread over those words

"Yuri..... how could you ever think I would hurt you...?"

"Not... _you_ specifically Viktor," he said softly, taking a step back and drawing his hand away as he dropped the broom..... wich began to levitate instead of falling to the ground

"It's _all_ humans who hurt us,"

Viktor couldn't breathe

He didn't know what he was witnessing at first, but when Yuri climbed onto the broom, sitting elegantly along it as if he were riding it sideways, one leg crossed over the other and his arms over his chest, Viktor finally forced himself to exhale

"You're a witch...." he breathed, voice barely audiable

So _that's_ what Yuri had meant a moment ago by "coven"....

"I'm a witch," Yuri agreed tensely

For the longest moment, it was as if they were both waiting for the other to make the next move, neither wanting to risk saying or doing anything that would increase the tension, before finally, Viktor got them off to the right foot

"WOW!! AMAZING!!!!! This is SO COOL!!" he cried

Yuri had expected several different reactions....

....

That really hadn't been one of them

"Y-You... really think so....?" he asked, startled, nearly falling off of his broom

"YEAH!! Oh my god this is incredible!!! And you-" Viktor paused, gasping softly and pressing a hand over his mouth

"You're... trusting me with this secret.... oh Yuri I'm so honored!! Oh I have so many questions!!"

Expression finally lightening, Yuri smiled softly at his boyfreind and straightened his position, swinging one leg over the broom and placing his hands easily at the tip

"And I promise to try to answer them all, as long as you swear you keep this a closely guarded secret, ok?"

"Ofcourse!!" Viktor cried enthusiastically, eyes sparkling as Yuri finally allowed a soft chuckle to leave his throat

"Well don't just stand there sweetheart, get on,"

Viktor had been happy during many moments of their relationship, but Yuri couldn't remember ever seeing him so utterly overjoyed

~+~

"So you're not _all_ witches then?"

"Nope, Leo is a werewolf, Guang Hong is a faery, so on and so forth,"

"Wow!! Amazing!!"

Yuri chuckled softly, adoring his partner's enthusiasm for all things magical

"But they still listen to you as their leader?"

"Yep, I'm the High Preistess of the coven, it's a little like being the oyabun of the yakuza but with alot more love and alot less violence,"

"Wow...."

Viktor had already learned everything about the witch hunters, his absolute _fury_ over learning that information had finally cemented Yuri's beleifs that Viktor could be fully trusted and wasn't just putting on a show of support to save his own skin

Viktor had acted like he just witnessed a massacre when Yuri explained everything to him, it was the most heart-breaking expression he had ever seen on his partner's face and he hoped he would never have to see it again... but it had been necessary at the time

"Why High Preistess and not High Preist?"

"Witches worship the feminine divine, our higher power comes from the _goddess_ , much how werewolves worship the feminine divine because She controls the moon and the moon controls the wolves, merfolk too, there are plenty who worship the masculine divine primarily but we personally don't as it's She who gifts our powers, as a matter of fact, until recently, High Preistesses were always female, my coven only got rid of that rule a couple of generations ago when we had a temporary lack of women in my direct bloodline,"

"Wow.... I guess this is one of those rare cases where it really helps that you're not straight huh?"

Yuri laughed, never having heard that assumption before but finding it kind of adorable

"I guess you're right yes, I'm sure you've noticed I'm a bit gender non-conforming, that does help with channeling the feminine divine into my magic, or perhaps that's why I refuse to conform to societal masculinity so much... because my powers are very strong, so I naturally have alot of feminine energy,"

"Incredible... I could listen to you talk about this all day," Viktor sighed dreamily, resting his head against Yuri's back and snuggling him sweetly

Yuri was just glad he'd gotten over his flying-anxiety fairly quickly

"You're so sweet Viktor..."

"Mmm... wile we're exchanging acts of trust... you can call me Vitya, if you'd.. like to... Yuri,"

Eyes glimmering with adoration, Yuri leaned back, giving Viktor a small kiss

"Ok Vitya,"

Viktor shuddered against his lover at that, and for the first time Yuri could actually understand why some witches risked their necks to make love wile airborne....

"So you're an exceptionally talented witch then? Why am I not surprised?"

"I-I wouldn't say 'exceptionally'.... I'm just... I mean.... I guess I hold up to the standards of a typical High Preistess..."

"Gee, why do I get the sense that you're just putting yourself down again?" Viktor snorted playfully

Yuri's face turned red, clearing his throat as he began his descent to the ground

"I'm afraid the Q&A is going to have to be put on pause for a bit Vitya, I have to deal with this,"

"Right," Viktor agreed with a nod

He was satisfied for the moment anyway he had supposed, in the half hour of flying he had aske so many questions that he was actually surprised Yuri hadn't nocked him off the broom from annoyance a wile back

As the broom landed though and Viktor's feet touched solid ground again, he leaned forward, giving Yuri as tight of a hug as he could manage without potentially hurting his lover

"Thank you for trusting me Yuri.... really,"

Expression warm, Yuri leaned back, giving Viktor a gentle kiss

"Thank you for being trust-worthy, I know that sounds kind of like a cop-out response but... you really have no idea how few humans could ever be trusted with something like this,"

Kissing Viktor's fingers, the witch dismounted his broom and wrapped his hand around his lover's, giving him a gentle tug towards the inn

"Come on sweetheart, you're about to see magic in action,"

~+~

"And we've got the payments from the Danvers family this week yes?"

"Yep, I collected myself earlier today," Chris replied as he leaned back in his chair

"Ah, perfect! Then in that case I'll take my leave, if anybody needs me, I'll be at Yuri's for the night,"

"What!? _AGAIN_!? What, do you fucking LIVE there at this point!?" Yura snapped irritably as he glared up at the other man

Viktor did nothing but shrug in response, rising to his feet easily

"Don't act as though you and Beka don't spend every night with eachother,"

"Ofcourse we do, we're ENGAGED!"

"And Yuri and I are in love,"

Yura's eyes practically rolled into the back of his head, earning a low chuckle from Chris as they watched Viktor grab his coat from the coat rack by the door

"I can't exactly say I blame him, if Yuri is anything like my little Peachy then I would be there with him every night too,"

"You'd be there every night for _anything_ willing to sleep with you so that's hardly a standard," Yura grumbled

"Hey, not true!! I have STANDARDS you know!" Chris gasped, utterly offended

Yura's expression was blank, staring at Chris with what seemed like genuine confusion

"......Where?"

"Wow, burn," Georgi snickered from his own chair, pushing himself back against it and nearly falling out of it, much to Chris' snickering delight

"Well I think it's great," Mila said suddenly, rising to her feet as well and taking a step closer to Viktor, a warm expression on her face

"Love is love right? So I say we support any and every kind of love, and if our boss is lucky enough to be in love? Then the more power to him,"

" _Thank you_ Mila, remind me to give you and nobody else the Christmas bonus," Viktor teased, opening the office door and blowing a kiss to the others

"Dosvedanya~"

Slipping out as quickly as possible, he practically ran downstairs to his car, practically coming out of his skin to get home- well... to Yuri's house, technically, but at this point that _was_ home

Yura hadn't been exaggerating, Viktor was there at Yuri's every single night without fail, and in the two weeks that he had known his lover's secret, they had become closer than ever

Viktor loved every last inch of his beautifull partner, but his magic....

His magic was truly unlike anything Viktor had ever experienced before and only served to intoxicate him deeper

He couldn't have been happier if he tried

True, he felt horrible about what the yakuza- about what Yuri's _coven_ \- was going through, but he was trying everything he could imagine to help

Sadly though, that just wasn't much

The witch hunters kept their tracks well covered, and without any magic of his own to assist, there was little Viktor could provide

....Well, in the bigger scheme that is

He found himself becoming quite usefull to Yuri though, who found it more and more comforting every day to have Viktor home and within reach, someone who he could take care of and protect almost always at his fingertips, one person he didn't have to worry about getting hurt, right there with him

Viktor could always see the ease fall over his partner whenever he entered the house, and the tension didn't return until they had to depart the next morning

By this point he had spent the last few days at Yuri's, even leaving his dog, Makkachin, there instead of home alone, as he felt guilty for leaving her by herself so much and had gotten into a bad habbit of just going to Yuri's after work instead of to his own house

What point was there in going home, after all, when Yuri could always just conjure whatever he needed from Viktor's house to his own?

Everything seemed to be going remarkably well in terms of their relationship, and things didn't seem to be any different that evening when he pulled up to the house and rushed inside, practically crashing into Yuri with love and affection the moment he laid eyes on him

"Yuuuriii!!!"

"Vitya!! You're back!!" Yuri cried excitedly, eagerly wrapping his arms around his boyfreind and peppering kisses everywhere he could reach, driving a few pleasant giggles out of the pakhan

"I missed you sweetheart,"

"I missed you too,"

"I have a surprise for you,"

Viktor glanced up, eyes wide with wonder and excitement as his partner cupped Viktor's face and pressed a kiss right on his lips

"Mmmm, a little early for Christmas gifts, don't you think?"

"Oh trust me, these aren't your Christmas gifts," Yuri smiled, pulling Viktor by the hand into the living room and only drawing more and more on his curiosity as he eagerly followed after his lover

" _These_?" Viktor echoed in confusion, letting Yuri push him down onto the couch and climb into his lap, holding out two small, classy black boxes towards him, neatly stacked on top of eachother, with one significantly smaller than the one beneath it

A bit hesitantly, Viktor reached for the smaller box first, sliding it open and feeling his breath catch in his throat

"A... key....?"

"To the house," Yuri said softly

"I know it's kind of quick but.... well in our line of work you can never be too carefull, I want you to have this key, Viktor, and use it whenever you want or need to, be it in an emergency or just when you want to surprise me by being home early, I give you permission to enter my house whenever you wish,"

"Oh Yuri..." Viktor breathed, moving closer and gently but firmly tossing his arms around his lover's back, squeezing him tightly and earning a soft laugh from Yuri in return

"You can have a key to my house too if you want it, though I don't really see the point, I'm barely there these days,"

"I'll take you up on that, just in case, I hate to think about negative possibilities but they _are_ a reality, if you should get hurt or something, I would want to be able to get into that house so I'd have a better chance of helping you if you need it in a pinch,"

"It's your's," Viktor promised, gently taking Yuri's hands and kissing them both

But the brunette wasn't going to let him celebrate for very long, a small smirk on his face as he gently pushed the second box a little closer, quietly encouraging Viktor to open it

"Go on,"

Curiously, Viktor slid it open, his heart absolutely skipping a beat this time as he stared in sheer amazement at the beautifull leather collar that sat before him

Raised on the suede of the inside was **"YURI"** , printed clear as day, intended to leave an impression on Viktor's skin

And on the little metal tag hanging off of the D ring wasn't his information, biut Yuri's

 _If found, please return to Yuri Katsuki_ with the phone number and address and everything....

"I um... I mean I know we talked about collars and I know it's early but-mmph!"

Yuri didn't have even a remote chance to finish that sentence before Viktor was practically suffocating him in kisses, long and slow and passionate

Yuri moaned quietly at the reaction, tangling his fingers in Viktor's hair and letting the pakhan drag him down against his chest

"S-So..." Yuri panted, sitting up a little as Viktor seized his hips, starting to press kisses down the side of Yuri's neck

"I take it you like it?"

Yuri's question was answered in the form of the best sex the witch had ever had

~+~

"I've decided, I want my pin on my collar, it's the best way to insure that I'll never lose it or go anywhere without it,"

"Mmm.... I don't know about that Vitenka.... what would you do during meetings?"

Viktor tilted his head, legitimately confused by this question

"What do you mean? I'll be wearing my collar during meetings..."

Eyebrows raised, Yuri stared at him with pure skepticism

"You can't wear your collar during meetings- as much as I'd like you to- because it could seriously jeopardize your credibility,"

"So I'll make sure my shirt and tie cover it,"

"It's a bit big for that Vitya..."

Viktor pouted- the ultimate weapon he had learned could be utilized against Yuri

"O-Oh come on Vitya not the pout...."

The plea did him no good though, Viktor's sad puppy eyes reigned supreme as he shifted closer and stared up at his lover as pitifully as he could

"Please... _Sir_?"

Yuri groaned, face turning red as he covered his eyes with his hands

Weakness #2: Targeted

"That's not even _close_ to fair...."

And now, Viktor would go in for the kill

"I just want to wear it always... so that I can always remember your touch... and that I belong to you...."

"............... _Fine_ ,"

Mission accomplished

"I'm cloaking it before you go to any important meetings though, I'm not letting you damage your image because of this, as much as _I_ adore collars, you know most of society will be.... _skeptical_... other mobs already have a hard time with you being gay and in a relationship sweetheart, we don't need to add 'openly kinky' to your list of 'reasons neighboring mobs might have it out for you',"

"I can agree to that," Viktor chirped

"Good, but I'm still not sure about your pin staying on it permanently, you're going to wear your collar when you sleep, right? What if the pin gets loose and you roll over on it?"

"Surely there's a spell you could use to prevent that from happening, my darling High Preistess?"

Yuri stared at him, expression blank, before sighing as he reached over to the nightstand and grabbed Viktor's snow lily pin

"You know too much and you're too spoiled," Yuri accused, though Viktor knew he was just teasing

"Guilty as charged, are you going to arrest me Officer~?" the pakhan cooed, fluttering his eyelashes as Yuri gently slipped his fingers underneath the leather of the collar and started to fasten the pin in place, weaving magic around the gold enamal and through the leather to keep the pin embedded there for good, the sharp end of the sticker cushioned nicely in the inner lining with no chance of it getting loose or of uncomfortably poking Viktor in the throat

Yuri had to admit, as reluctant as he was to weave the pin into one accessory alone, Viktor _did_ look damn good with both Yuri's personal tag and his coven's crest wrapped around his neck, smiling almost demurely at the yakuza, seemingly pleased with himself over his decision

God Yuri was having _urges_

"Exactly how long have you been fantasizing about _that_ little roleplay hm?" Yuri smirked, looping one finger through the ring of Viktor's collar and giving him a sharp tug closer, drawing a shuddering breath out of the beautifull boy

"A-A wile...." Viktor groaned, biting his lip

"Care to help me out... Sir?"

"I think that can be arranged..." Yuri promised softly, giving his lover a soft, slow kiss, just starting to formulate a plan for furthering this little development when-

_"Church bells ring, rice on the ground, looks like snow, call my bluff, call you 'babe', have my back yeah every day, feels like home, the whole weekend, it's nice to have a freind,"_

"Dammit..." Yuri huffed, refusing to look at Viktor's pout as he reluctantly shifted around in bed and let go of his partner, grabbing the phone of of the nightstand

"Moshi moshi?"

Viktor knew the moment Yuri's expression turned grim that they wouldn't be returning to play time any time soon

~+~

_"Just because she's with Sara, that doesn't mean she does business with the Crispinos,"_

Yuri had said that, but Viktor knew those chances were slim

The relationship between the Nikiforovs and the Crispinos was nothing like how it was between the Nikiforovs and the Katsukis or the Stilinskis or the Red Dragon Triad or even the groups that Viktor had no relationship with

They were enemies- _ruthless_ enemies

If Mila was sneaking around with Sara- and being poor enough at it that she could get caught on Sara's territory- then there was a high chance that one of them was about to switch sides

And considering Sara's bloodline, Viktor had a hard time believing it would be her

True, there were exceptions to every rule, and though Yuri had gathered enough intel to confirm the relationship, no one knew if it went deeper than just romance or not

There were plenty of reasons that she may not be involved with the Crispinos

...

But there were just as many that she may

Viktor laid awake, unsure of how he was going to handle the following day

He hadn't had trouble sleeping since he and Yuri started sharing a bed, but this news was too troubling to sleep on, though he'd pretended for Yuri's sake, knowing that his sweet, heart-of-gold lover wouldn't dare to sleep before Viktor himself did, especially not after receiving such upsetting news

He didn't have to make a decision- he knew what the decision would be already, he couldn't allow an act of treason, he couldn't risk the lives of the rest of the bratva- not to mention the yakuza- for a traitor, and if that was what Mila was.....

That was just it though, that was the thing

Tommorrow he didn't have a decision to make- he had results to find out

And he knew, he _knew_ , that if the results weren't in his favor, he would lose someone he trusted and cared for, someone he considered to be a freind

And he would be the one pulling the trigger

With that sickening thought in his head, he finally resolved that sleep had evaded him for now and carefully sat up, taking great caution not to jostle the bed too much, lest he wake Yuri, before tip-toeing out of the bedroom and downstairs, putting on his coat and shoes

He debated breifly about leaving Yuri a note.... but ultimately decided against it

A note would just be an excuse to linger outside in the snow, if he didn't leave one he had more of a reason to hurry back, and really, he didn't intend to be gone for very long, just a quick step outside to clear his head and then he'd come right back

Atleast.....

That was the intention

Too bad he didn't get more than a yard out before something hit him over the back of the head and he fell forward, bleeding into the surrounding snow


	8. Who Are You Killing For? Who Are You Dying For?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for minor charector death and some admitted probable OOCness of said charector
> 
> Songs:
> 
> -"Savages" by Marina + The Diamonds

When Viktor woke, it was with a wince, groggy and in pain, his eyes fluttering slowly, struggling to adjust to the low light of the.... wherever he was....

"Well well, looks like you're awake,"

That voice....

Viktor didn't really recognize it but it was annoying...

"Look up, Viktor, and see the face of the man who's bested you,"

Finally, his vision cleared enough to make out the figure in front of him

....

Unfortunately for Viktor, he didn't recognize the man in front of him at all

".....Ah.... and, who are you...?"

The man jerked, a totally offended look over his face

"You-!? ...Ah ok I get it, ofcourse you don't recognize me, dressed down like this, I'm usually in a three-peice suit, so just imagine me in a suit and tell me if you recognize me,"

".....No,"

The man's eyes narrowed

"...No you still don't recognize me or no you refuse to picture me in a suit?"

"Guess," Viktor smirked, giving a small shrug, his own eyes narrowing in annoyance as he felt the handcuffs tug on his wrists

Damn, much harder to get out of than rope....

The man's eyes narrowed again as he stepped forward, grabbing Viktor by his hair

"Does the name JJ ring any bells?"

Exhaling slowly, Viktor gritted his teeth

"So _you're_ JJ... I see.... all this time hearing about you and yet I've never actually seen your face, I suppose it's about time, but you've caught me at a rather inconvenient moment, you see, I'm dealing with something far more important than you are at the moment, you're going to have to excuse me and I'll get back to kicking your ass another time,"

"Ha, _you_ kicking _my_ ass? You must be kidding, you're the one tied to the chair!"

"Be that as it may, it doesn't change the fact that I, and my allies, are far better than you and your's, and we are the ones who will be controlling New York in the very near future,"

"Where did you learn to talk so big? You keep talking like you're the king but that would be _me_! I'm the one joined with the most powerfull organization in the state- in the _country_!! We're the ones with all the power,"

" _All_? Now I know that you're joking," Viktor huffed, forcing a smirk as he tried to think of a way to get out of this mess

He didn't have a weapon on him and even if he had, he wouldn't have access to it, he had no way to get himself out of the cuffs and certainly no idea on how to distract JJ long enough to put a plan into motion to get out, so...

He needed more time

He needed to formulate a plan

"Oh I'm not joking, you may have _some_ sway now, but you won't for long, not once I exterminate those snakes you've been slithering around with,"

Viktor froze, his plans for escape suddenly put in pause

"...What do you mean... 'snakes'...?"

"Don't you know?" JJ smirked, his eyes bright with glee, dark with malice, creating a glint in the light

"The yakuza..... they're not human,"

Viktor's eyes narrowed, his nose wrinkling in distaste

"Well, _I_ already knew that, but I'm surprised that _you_ did,"

"Ah... so you _did_ know... just when I thought I could afford to offer you salvation," JJ said with a sigh, reaching into the back of his belt and pulling out a gun

Viktor blanched, hurrying to stall

"Are you the one who's been sending the witch hunters!?" he shouted suddenly

"You.... you're the one who's been doing it, right?"

Lowering the gun slightly, too arrogant and proud of himself to resist an opportunity to gloat, the other mobster chuckled at him, giving a small shrug, hands-up type of motion

"Took you long enough to figure that out, I really thought one of you would have pinned it before now,"

Pinned it... pin.... _his pin_!!!

_"Please have it with you all the time, you don't have to wear it, but keeping it in your pocket or something... that would be good,"_

_"I take very good care of my people Viktor, I'm **very** protective of them, you're my people now, and everyone who's mine has one of those pins,"_

Viktor was willing to bet _anything_ that those pins were enchanted somehow, likely meant to send some kind of distress signal to Yuri from any of his associates who got into trouble

The problem was trying to figure out how it operated...

What was the trigger? What did Viktor have to do to activate it?

Ofcourse there was a distinct possibility as well that it was just a tracking device and that without a reason to track Viktor- without any indication that something was wrong or even that he should wake up- Viktor was on his own but...

That was fine, even if that was the case, Viktor would survive

He just needed to survive long enough to get a plan going

"We thought it was Crispino," he replied simply

"Mm, afraid not, Michele is a good freind but he doesn't know anything about the demons of the world,"

"Ah, so you've just used his former assassins... and redirecting our attention to him instead, was that intentional of you or not?"

"An unexpected but not unwanted consequence of using his rogues gallery,"

Viktor bit his tongue, resisting the urge to mention his surprise that JJ even knew what a rogues gallery was

"Right... and what exactly do you have against Yuri and the yakuza?"

"What do I have against them?" JJ huffed, clearly surprised at the question, earning curiously raised brows from Viktor, encouraging him to keep going, keep talking, wile he thought up a way to get out of there

"They're not human! What part of that do you not get Nikiforov?!"

"So suddenly everything that's not human is.... what? Evil? Does that also apply to dogs and fish and pigeons?" Viktor huffed

"Ofcourse not, I'm just saying that witches aren't natural, neither are werewolves or vampires or any of the other things that go bump in the night,"

"Gee, why do I not believe that?" Viktor huffed back

"I guess that depends, are you a man of God, Viktor?"

"I guess that depends on what god you worship, JJ," Viktor replied calmly, his eyes narrowed, mirroring JJ's less than pleased expression

"I worship the only god,"

"Ah, and there we disagree, I'm polytheistic myself,"

"Aren't Russians tpyically Catholic? Here I thought we could actually work together, I was so ready to convince Michele to recruit you, but then you started showing up with that damn _witch_ everywhere,"

"Sorry, my loyalty is only to my High Preistess,"

JJ looked _disgusted_ by the idea, walking forward calmly and staring down at the collar around Viktor's neck

"And what is _that_ anyway?"

"My collar, marking my loyalty to my lover, showing that I'm his and he's mine,"

"Loyalty... that's the biggest problem, there's no hope of helping you if you're so... _loyal_ ," he huffed, detesting the word

"I don't understand, did you two screw around _before_ or _after_ you learned the truth about him?"

"Before,"

"I guess I get it then.... I'm sure I'd have a hard time facing the truth about Isabella if she turned out to be some kind of demon,"

Right....

Isabella Yang, Viktor remembered her

She was JJ's wife, newly married as of a few months ago, supposedly they were madly in love with eachother, former highschool sweethearts who had never so much as dated anybody else

This was good, Viktor could use this to his advantage

"But you should know that that's what this is Viktor, you're in love with something evil, something unnatural, it goes against God, it goes against _nature_ , you're in love with a _monster_ , Viktor,"

"That's your opinion, it wasn't too long ago people thought that about gay people, hell, alot of people STILL think that about gay people, do you think I should be burned at the stake too?"

"For being engaged with a witch, yes, but not for being gay,"

Viktor gritted his teeth

"Why is it your job to say what's natural and what isn't? Why is it your job to exterminate what you deem unworthy?"

"Why is it his to fight against people like me? To protect his own kind, wich is exactly what I'm doing, someday Viktor, their kind will finally get the numbers they need to rise up against us, enslave us, take over our world, I'm just making sure that doesn't happen,"

"No what you're doing is mass genocide!"

"I'd like to see how many names have ended up on YOUR hitlist!" JJ shouted, aiming his gun at Viktor's head

The pakhan swallowed, gritting his teeth

"It's not the same thing,"

"No, what you do is for money, for power, for greed.... what _I_ do is righteous,"

"Bullshit," Viktor breathed, lips curled up into a snarl

"I will admit, the life of a mobster is often one of needless bloodshed.... but I'm trying to make a better life for people like me, just like Yuri is,"

"Just like I am," JJ said seriously

For a moment, they were quiet, both knowing they would be unable to change eachother's minds

"I guess you don't have any plans of letting me go, hm?" Viktor concluded simply

"Not unless you have any plans of changing your position,"

Viktor let out a dry laugh, humorless and seething

"I'd rather die than turn my back on the man I love and the cause I believe in,"

"Don't worry," JJ said easily, taking a step closer and clicking the safety off of the gun

"You will,"

"If you pull that trigger, Yuri will come after you with a force unlike anything else," Viktor warned quickly

"Oh sure, I fully expect him to go after the person who killed you with great gusto, ofcourse, he won't know that person is me,"

"And what makes you say that?" Viktor asked tensely, his stomach churning with anxiety

"The fact that he's going to think it's your little freind Mila who killed you,"

Viktor was already pale, but he went as white as a sheet at those words

"What..? Why!? What did Mila ever do to you!?"

"Nothing, but she's convenient, it was a blessing in the end, that the last witch hunter I hired saw her and Sara together, now only a little bit of manipulation and Sabrina The Teenage Witch will think that Mila was the one who killed you, he'll go mad with rage, attack your bratva, they'll attack the yakuza, they'll destroy eachother, and picking off what remains will be easy, between my group and Michele's, we'll get rid of our competition _and _the biggest threat to humanity in New York, all at once,"__

__"You.... you called Yuri the monster.... a demon.... but he isn't the monster, YOU are! Yuri would never hurt an innocent person and you're going on a motherfucking SLAUGHTER FEST just because your afraid that someone else is _alive_! The Katsukis have never threatened you for even a moment and yet you can't stand to so much as let them LIVE!"_ _

__"I'm sorry it had to be this way, really," JJ said as he stepped forward_ _

__"I never had anything against you, personally, just for what it's worth, but you had to go and lay down with dogs, you know what they say about that,"_ _

__"You think you're insulting them, but dogs are _amazing_ creatures, not like snakes such as yourself," Viktor snarled as the gun was pushed against his forehead_ _

__Viktor only wished that old myth about breaking your thumbs to get out of handcuffs was true, if it had been, he'd have been out of there by now_ _

__"Don't worry Viktor, your death is serving a higher purpose," JJ promised_ _

__Viktor tensed, bracing himself for the bullet_ _

__But it never came_ _

__Instead, _music_ , of all things, started to play_ _

___Underneath it all, we're just savages_ _ _

__"What the hell...?"_ _

___Hidden behind shirts, ties, and marriages_ _ _

__Pulling the gun away from Viktor's head, JJ gritted his teeth, turning around, towards the direction of the music, coming from the shadows_ _

__By now Viktor had realized that they seemed to be in a warehouse- because wasn't it _always_ a warehouse?- and a rather large one at that_ _

__When JJ started moving towards the shadows, he was nearly completely out of sight_ _

___How could we expect anything at all?  
We're just animals, still learning how to crawl_ _ _

__Viktor wasn't sure what caused the moment of repreive, but he was greatfull for it_ _

__Now if he could just manage to figure out how to get these cuffs off... maybe if-_ _

___*Click*_ _ _

__Out of nowhere, the cuffs were just.... _loose__ _

__He pulled his hands out easily, the cuffs falling off of his wrists immediately, only managing to barely catch them so they wouldn't clatter to the ground_ _

__He turned around quickly, breath catching in his throat with releif and delight at the familiar brown eyes staring back at him_ _

__"Yuri..." he breathed_ _

__"How did-?"_ _

__Yuri reached out, tapping the pin with his finger_ _

__Ofcourse....._ _

__Viktor had been right_ _

__One way or another, the pin had sent off a distress signal for him and Yuri had managed to track him down_ _

__Thank Heavens...._ _

__Yuri put a finger to his lips, shushing him quietly as he gestured to the gun in his opposite hand, earning a nod from the pakhan_ _

__Rising to his feet in silence, sleek and gracefull as a swan, Yuri positioned his upper body over the chair, gun aimed perfectly, but before he could squeeze the trigger, a bullet flew past him, barely missing as Yuri hurried to duck for cover_ _

__The music stopped abruptly, Viktor could only assume that Yuri had been controlling it with magic somehow, and now the silence was overwelming, eerie when not punctuated by the sound of a gun going off_ _

__JJ was shooting high_ _

__Yuri was shooting low_ _

__Viktor felt obscenely helpless with his own total lack of weaponry_ _

__"Can't you use magic against him somehow!?" he cried as Yuri ducked beneath the sail of another bullet, pressing down on Viktor to keep him sheilded as he nearly climbed on top of him to fire at JJ again_ _

__"I could if I could get a proper line of sight on him... maybe if he wasn't moving so much..."_ _

__Pulling back, Yuri ducked around the chair again, deciding to try getting closer in order to hit his mark, maybe he could even use magic if he was just a little bit closer..._ _

__Viktor, in the mean time, wasn't content to just sit quietly and wait_ _

__He may not have a weapon but that didn't mean he couldn't help_ _

__JJ was focused entirely on Yuri, so now was the perfect time to sneak up on him_ _

__Luckily for Viktor, he was quite well versed in how to sneak around unnoticed, not quite as smooth as what he had just seen from Yuri, but good enough to keep himself cloaked in the shadows, stepping expertly around he corners of light and guided by the ever closer growing sounds of gunfire_ _

__Close.. he was close..._ _

__But he needed a weapon, he needed... he needed...._ _

__Like a shot, an idea finally came to him_ _

__He'd have to apologize to Yuri for this later, reaching out to quietly unclasp the collar from around his neck, pulling it away and trying not to notice how strangely naked and empty he felt without it's comforting presence around his throat_ _

__Swallowing tightly, he finally spotted JJ, the glint of the gun metal beneath the low light of the warehouse enough to distinguish him_ _

__Acting like a madman in that instant, he charged forward, wrapping the leather of the collar around JJ's neck and tugging sharply, squeezing as hard as he could_ _

__"NOW YURI!!" he screamed as JJ fought and struggled against him, firing the gun again_ _

__"Use your magic no-!"_ _

__****BANG!!**** _ _

__It's true what he'd always heard, about getting shot, you really don't feel it when the bullet enters your body_ _

__Or, face, in this particular instance_ _

___"VIKTOR!!!!!"_ _ _

__There were more gunshots, atleast four or five, to follow as Viktor collapsed to the ground, followed by the sound of a second body collapsing_ _

__Viktor was vaguely aware of the sound of footsteps racing towards him, of Yuri's voice calling out to him and his hands over Viktor's skin, his hair, grabbing at his body_ _

__He felt himself fading quickly, could hear Yuri screaming for him to stay awake, stay with him, _stay_...._ _

__He could hear him screaming into his phone, shouting to Phichit_ _

___"Get Seung-Gil!! I need him NOW! Viktor... Viktor stay with me.... stay with me please...."_ _ _

__He wanted to... oh god how he wanted to...._ _

__His fingers twitched, reaching up, and with every last bit of strength he had, wrapped them around Yuri's_ _

__He wasn't much, he knew_ _

__He was just human, in the arms of a powerfull witch, he couldn't claim he had much in comparison_ _

__But he could atleast say he was loyal to his lover_ _

__

__**Three weeks later....** _ _

__

__"Do you accept me once and for all as your oyabun?"_ _

__A smile across his lips, Viktor's eyes sparkling, he gave a nod of affirmation_ _

__"I do,"_ _

__Yuri tilted the cup forward, letting the sake` burn through Viktor's mouth as he copied the motion and tilted his own cup against Yuri's lips_ _

__"Congratulations, Viktor Nikiforov, and welcome to the Katsuki Yakuza Clan,"_ _

__"Congratulations to you too, Yuri Katsuki, for joining the Nikiforov Bratva,"_ _

__Sharing a soft laugh, the two leaned across the small table between them and indulged in a soft, slow kiss_ _

__Three weeks after Viktor had been shot in the face, he now sat across from Yuri at the inn completely healed.... and completely changed_ _

__The price of life had been a steep one, but one that Viktor had been all too glad to pay_ _

__"So... about that onsen...." he suggested with a small smirk_ _

__"Mmm no, it's still not done yet, I told you, it'll open right after New Year's, you can't make it happen faster," Yuri chuckled_ _

__"Awww...."_ _

__"Sorry Vitya, you still have alot to learn about magic," Yuri chuckled, gently carding his fingers through Viktor's hair_ _

__"You say that, but I don't actually have to learn much of _anything_ about magic, that's still _your_ department my love," he purred back, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to Yuri's neck.... only to let his newly formed fangs sink down into the skin and let a few drops of blood coat his tongue, delighting at the sugary sweet taste of magic that flowed into his mouth_ _

__Yuri quite literally had very sweet blood_ _

__"A-Ahh... our clans are waiting for us... Vitya not here..."_ _

__Viktor only hummed, pulling back and dragging his tongue over the fresh bitemarks to heal them, before drawing back and pouting at his lover_ _

__Yuri's eyebrows raised challengingly_ _

__It was a standoff of wills_ _

__......._ _

__Despite his amazing stamina, Yuri broke first, groaning and tilting his head to allow the newly minted vampire to sink his teeth into Yuri's creamy flesh once again_ _

__Seung-Gil was the head of a local Korean mafia, Yuri wasn't sure they'd call eachother "allies"- he wasn't sure Seung-Gil was really an ally of _anyone's_ , as he tended to keep to himself, upholding the more traditional values of a vampire nest_ _

__He had only done Yuri the favor of giving Viktor his bite because the Katsuki clan had helped them take out some vampire hunters a year prior and Seung-Gil was good about repaying debts_ _

__He had wanted nothing to do with raising a fledgling vampire though, feeling he had more than enough to deal with with his own nest, but neither Viktor nor Yuri had minded that in the least_ _

__Yuri had other, slightly more social vampires in his clan who were more than willing to help Viktor with his new fangy needs, and Yuri himself was delighted to have the chance to guide Viktor on his journey into this world himself_ _

__Yuri did love teaching after all_ _

__"You've gotten even more spoiled you know," he mused with a soft sigh, laying back on his office floor as Viktor groaned, sucking down mouthfull after mouthfull of sweet, delicious, warm blood..._ _

__Even though he'd already done so that morning_ _

__Oh well, Yuri had plenty of vitamins he was on now to keep his blood count up, a consequence to being a vampire's partner, not that he minded all that much, he was used to taking supplements to keep his magic strong anyway_ _

__"We really can't stay too long though... please Vitya... Phichit already thinks we screw in here...."_ _

__That was just enough to force Viktor away, just as Yuri had hoped, the vampire laughing in amusement as he licked the bitemarks clean to heal them over, then licked his lips free of blood, eyes sparkling with a beautifull red tint over his brightly shining blue eyes, creating a sort of... violet undertone around his irises_ _

__It was _gorgeous__ _

__And very fitting of such a beautifull man_ _

__"So? We _do_ screw in here _zolotse_ ," Viktor laughed, grinning from ear to ear_ _

__"Y-Yes but I don't want him to KNOW that!"_ _

__"Why not? He and Chris make their own undoings no secret, they fucked in the salt cave last week,"_ _

__"Yeah and I sincerely wish they hadn't, that place is a bitch to clean even with magic so you really have to tell Chris to stop that, I'll talk to Phichit,"_ _

__"Fiiiiiine," Viktor huffed with a roll of his eyes, though it was fond and playfull and punctuated with a kiss, one wherein Yuri wrinkled his nose, not exactly fond of the taste of his own blood_ _

__But he supposed there were worse things out there so...._ _

__"Mmm my love... promise me that we'll go home right after this and you'll put on your new heels for me?"_ _

__"Only if we go right now and get this over with,"_ _

__That seemed to be enough motivation for Viktor, who practically jumped to his feet after and hurried to help Yuri rise to his as well_ _

__"Ready?" he asked excitedly_ _

__"Definitely," Yuri confirmed, kissing Viktor's cheek softly as they left the office_ _

__They had decided to officially join their clans not long after Viktor's recovery, wanting everyone to know without a shadow of a doubt that they were loyal to eachother, that if you were to mess with one, you'd mess with both_ _

__There had been a little opposition from both of their clans over that, but it didn't take long for it to die down, the more the clans got to know eachother, the more they tended to like and accept eachother, and Yuri was in the process of convincing the rest of the coven that it would be ok to tell atleast Viktor's most trusted bratva members about their... _supernatural persuasions__ _

__After the incident with Viktor and then finding out that Mila's relationship with Sara truly _was_ only about romance, that she knew nothing of the business the Crispinos conducted and certainly not of the witch hunters, their opinions on the bratva had become even more clear- and positive, for that matter_ _

__They really had begun operating like one big family, and neither of the mafia bosses could be happier_ _

__Now they were on their way out of Yuri's office, heading to the party that was taking place in the ballroom of the inn to celebrate the official joining of their clans_ _

__Yuri could feel sparks of excitement in his magic as he wrapped his fingers around Viktor's, squeezing his hand affectionately and bringing it up to his lips, kissing his fingers as Viktor leaned down and kissed Yuri's cheek, the tag on his collar jingling slightly as they walked, the glimmer of his pin shimmering in the light, much like the snowflake on Yuri's beaded bracelet- their first gifts to eachother_ _

__But, Yuri mused, as Christmas and Viktor's birthday drew nearer, definitely not their last_ _

__There was a box at home with two gold rings in it that Yuri had strong plans for come Christmas morning; Viktor wasn't the only one who ached for deep commitments in this relationship, despite the relatively short amount of time that they had been in it_ _

__The key hadn't been enough_ _

__Viktor hadn't slept away from Yuri's house in over a month now_ _

__Maybe they were crazy, maybe it was all going too fast, but Yuri felt confident that they were on the right path_ _

__Together until the end of the line_ _

__A true, blue, ride or die_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Translations in order of appearance:
> 
> -"I just care about you Viktor, and I worry that you're making a fatal mistake,"  
> -"I understand, and thank you for worrying Beka, but I promise, I'm smarter than I look, have a little faith in me, ok?"  
> -"This is Viktor Nikiforov, the Russian mobster? You'll never believe it, he's so cute and awkward!! You should totally try to make sure this meeting goes well!"  
> -"Anyway, I'll be in the hall if you need me, just scream or send me the signal or something, have a nice meeting!"  
> -"Perfect!"  
> -"Phichit, I'm going to take Viktor to the blue room, he's injured, can you take care of our two o'clock guest?"  
> -"Sure! Suffice it to say you like him then huh? Are you sure you need the blue room and not the RED room?"  
> -"G-Goodbye Phichit!"


End file.
